India T20I Squad | Mysterious Disappearance - Uncovering the Absent Indian Batters' Impact

Suryakumar Yadav has a great record against West Indies (Source: Twitter)

On July 5, 2023, BCCI announced a new and fresh-looking Team India’s squad for the series against West Indies starting from August 3. The BCCI selection committee under the new chief selector Ajit Agarkar gave preferences to some new players. While players like Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ishan Kishan retained their spots, some players have missed out on selection. Hardik Pandya is set to lead the team and Suryakumar Yadav is the vice-captain of the side. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma gained justified call-ups to the Indian team for the T20I series against West Indies with the seniors, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, continuing to miss out. The five-match T20I series will start at Brian Lara Cricket Academy on August 3 and the final match will be played in Lauderhill, Florida on August 13.

Analytical view on Finest Indian batters against WI since 2021

Finest Indian batters against WI in T20Is since 2021 (Source: OneCricket)

Some of the missed Indian batters had a great record against West Indies. Obviously Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer were left behind because of an injury and they are recovering well but players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had played some of the best innings of their T20I career against West Indies. Therefore, the absence of experienced Indian batters in the line-up can distress the team.

Since 2021, Suryakumar Yadav has scored the most runs against the West Indies. He has scored 242 runs in seven innings with a remarkable strike-rate of 179.2, alongside he hit 16 sixes, which is the highest among the other Indian Batters. Second in this list is Rishabh Pant who has scored 175 runs in six innings with a strike-rate of 149.5, Team India will definitely miss his presence in the middle-order and ability to counterstrike the spinners.

Former Indian captain of T20I side, Rohit Sharma has scored 174 runs in seven innings with a strike-rate of 147.4 and he has hit 10 sixes, which is the second highest after Suryakumar Yadav. The BCCI has preferred Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, who performed extremely well during the recently concluded IPL, for the role of the openers in the upcoming series against West Indies.

Shreyas Iyer who is sidelined from the team due to back injury also had decent numbers, scoring 123 runs in five innings with a strike-rate of 125.5, including 14 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Venkatesh Iyer and Ishan Kishan have a very little sample size but they have shown some promising impact during the last series against West Indies, scoring 92 and 82 runs in 3 and 4 innings respectively.

Conclusion

It is understandable that the BCCI is looking ahead at the future and wants to give chances to youngsters who have performed well in the shortest format and in the IPL, and in all likelihood they will continue to do it in future as well, but filling the shoes of players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is not going to be a piece of cake for them, especially their experience and ability to perform at the crucial occasions of the match.

The long-term plan of the BCCI looks evident, the next T20 World Cup will be played in 2024 in the West Indies and the United States and the Indian squad is expected to undergo a major transition in the next one year with the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among others being gradually eased out of the setup.