With the advent of T20 cricket, we have witnessed nations adopt a strategy of employing specialists for each format. Hence, we have seen them focus on developing cricketers individually for each version of the game. Of course, there will be few players who will play in all formats. In this article, we take a look at a single playing XI for India that can represent in all three formats.
Team India has been flourishing in three formats in recent years. This is due to the impressive planning and work that is being put in at the root level. In fact, if there was a necessity to field a single XI that can play all the formats, too, India will do pretty good.
Openers: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma is anyways an all-format cricketer for Team India and hence, he will be an automatic choice in this area. However, there could be debates regarding his partner. The options include Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. Out of these choices, it is only KL who features in at least the overall squad in all three formats. Hence, he will partner Rohit at the top in this single playing XI for India.
Middle-Order: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant (WK)
Cheteshwar Pujara will have to miss out on this scenario. He is not suited to the limited-overs, and hence, Virat Kohli will play at No.3. At the moment, Rishabh Pant is the primary wicket-keeping choice for the management in all formats. Therefore, he will also feature in this XI. If there is another batsman who can do well in all the formats of the game, it has to be Ajinkya Rahane. While Jinx is anyways doing well in Tests, in the past, he has shown that he can be a good option in the limited-overs fixtures too.
All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja
This is one department where Team India will have to ponder a lot about if they have to field a single playing XI for India. In Tests, an extra batsman would be needed but in LO’s, an extra bowling option is necessary. If he is fit, Hardik Pandya can be the player who can do that job and play in all three formats. Jaddu would anyways be a certainty as he is currently representing the country in all formats.
Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah
One major change in this department will be the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin. While Ash is undroppable in Tests, considering the present situation of the spin-attack in limited-overs, he would be an easy pick in the consolidated playing XI. Bhuvi would feature in this attack as he has the experience of playing Test cricket too. Bumrah and Shami would form the core of this bowling attack. The duo is India’s primary pace options in all three formats of the game. If the squad needs backups, they could try out the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur.
