India's T20 World Cup squad: Dube-Rinku-Gill vs Jaiswal shootout?

The national selection committee is unlikely to blood any rookie IPL performer during the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas but a couple of triedandtested faces might have to brace up for disappointment when the squad is finalised by the end of this monthWith the ICC making it mandatory to announce the provisional 15member Indias T20 World Cup squad squad by May 1 cutoff date Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues have some straightforward choices to make if every member of the team is fitThere would not be any experimentation or leftfield selections All those who have played for India and have done well consistently in T20 Internationals and the IPL will be rewarded a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymityIt is understood that one among Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal might miss out but in case both proven performers are selected in the final 15 then only one among two finishers Kolkata Knight Riders Rinku Singh and Chennai Super Kings Shivam Dube will get the nodThe other close call could be for the second wicketkeepers slot where Sanju Samson has competition from Jitesh Sharma KL Rahul and Ishan KishanRahul and Kishan bat at the top of the order and they havent tried batting in the middle order in this IPL so far which makes it difficult for the selectors to analyse their impact down the orderAlso ReadBattle for consistencyAlthough Hardik Pandyas bowling fitness remains a concern there is no immediate doubt on his selection Much like him Virat Kohlis inclusion is also a formalityThe other automatic selections are skipper Rohit Sharma Suryakumar Yadav pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah Ravindra Jadeja Rishabh Pant Arshdeep Singh Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav These 10 names if fit will definitely be on the flight across the AtlanticIt is understood that Siraj is being rested by RCB as he has been playing constantly and needed workload managementIn the choice between Gill and Jaiswal the former has scored more runs but in case of Jaiswal who has been a big find for Indian cricket the selection committee might not give up easily on him merely for a few low IPL scoresAlso being the only lefthander in inside the top four is a novelty and in a largely unidimensional top orderHowever if Gill piles up enough runs it will be a difficult choice unless the selectors accommodate both and drop one among Shivam and Rinku from the 15The reserve spinners slot could also be a threeway battle between Axar Patel a handy batter apart from being an accurate leftarm spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who is yet to play a single T20 World Cup match in his nineyear international career and Ravi Bishnoi who plays for Lucknow Super GiantsWhile Chahal is head and shoulders above the other two in terms of bowling skills his repeated omissions from important squads leaves a big question mark about his inclusion showpiece in JuneA former international player who is also a broadcaster gave an interesting insightThe Impact Player rule which is basically a glorified 12aside cricket contest has been good for IPL viewership but detrimental for Indian cricket It has killed the concept of allrounder and hence a halffit Hardik Pandya also has premium value because he can bowl he statedThink about it if there was no Impact Player rule could MS Dhoni not Ruturaj Gaikwad as CSK skipper afford to not bowl Dube Selectors dont know about Dubes bowling formSimilarly a guy like Rahul Tewatia is no longer in contention despite being a good finisher who also used to be a handy legbreak bowler He doesnt bowl now as he is an Impact Player Who is it hurting The national team he pointed outThe likes of Riyan Parag Mayank Yadav Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana have all performed well but it is understood that the selection committee would like to follow the process of easing them in via bilateral cricket instead of putting them to test in a highstakes World T20 gameThere are two whiteball series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and these young men would be in line for their India debuts at that time Nitish Reddy who is a seam bowling allrounder and was part of India Emerging side that toured Sri Lanka last year could also follow the same pathIt will be interesting to see if BCCI makes arrangements for the likes of Mayank Yadav Harshit Rana or Akash Madhwal to be taken as net bowlers which will also give them good exposureIndias T20 World Cup squad Probable 20 155 stand bys in contentionSpecialist Batters 6 Rohit Sharma Yashasvi Jaiswal Shubman Gill Virat Kohli Suryakumar Yadav Rinku SinghAllRounders 4 Hardik Pandya Ravindra Jadeja Shivam Dube Axar PatelSpecialist Spinners 3 Kuldeep Yadav Yuzvendra Chahal Ravi BishnoiWicketkeeperbatter 3 Rishabh Pant KL Rahul and Sanju SamsonPacers4 Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Siraj Arshdeep Singh and Avesh KhanWith PTI inputs