The Indian team went through a massive overhaul after the 2021 World Cup as Rohit Sharma took over as the Indian skipper in all three formats of the game, but his captaincy came under the scanner following the Indian team’s performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup and WTC Final 2023.
Team India is gearing up for the long West Indies tour starting on July 12. They will play a series of two Tests, three ODIs, and 5 T20Is. India’s tour of the West Indies will end on the 13th of August.
Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian team in the T20 series against the Men in Maroon as the team will look to develop youngsters for T20 World Cup next year. The Indian all-rounder has shown the potential to lead India in the limited opportunities for Men in Blue.
Indian team selectors and management face the wrath of the fans and experts over the non-selection of a few deserving players like Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Mohsin Khan for the West Indies tour, whereas few selections in the T20 side have also come under the scanner.
Here are three undeserving players who were picked in the India T20 squad against West Indies
1. Umran Malik
Umran Malik had a poor IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2023. He was benched following his poor performance with the ball for the major part of the season.
In eight matches, he has claimed only five wickets at an average of 43.40 and a higher economy rate of 10.85 and it was a strange call by the Indian team management to select him for the West Indies T20s despite his poor performance in the IPL.
Umran Malik made his debut for India in T20I and ODI cricket. He has so far picked 13 and 11 wickets respectively in the white-ball formats following his phenomenal performance in IPL 2022 and the youngster won the Emerging Player of the Season award in IPL 2022 for taking 22 wickets in 14 matches.
It will be interesting to see whether the Jammu Express repay the faith of the Indian team management in the Caribbean tour.
2. Avesh Khan
Avesh Khan had been bowling well in domestic cricket and even in the Indian Premier League for the past couple of years. However, when compared to his performances in the IPL 2021 and IPL 2022, his outings in the IPL 2023 didn’t meet the standards.
The right-arm pacer last played a T20I match for India against Hong Kong in the group stage of the Asia Cup and was dropped from the India squad following his poor form.
3. Mukesh Kumar
Mukesh Kumar has relentlessly worked hard in domestic cricket, as well as India A has helped him get the recognition he deserves.
The 29-year-old ability to swing the ball both ways makes him quite a prospect to have on the team but his T20 number are not encouraging in the shorter format of the game. India would be tempted to try him in the West Indies tour as they will look to groom him for the future series as he could be the best step forward for India.
He hasn’t shown much to prove that he can be a quality limited-overs bowler. The Delhi Capitals pacer has picked up only seven wickets in 10 games at a higher economy rate of 10.51 and the Bengal pacer would have found himself lucky to be part of the squad. They are many Indian pacers who have performed well in IPL 2023 and could have been a better option for the T20 team.