Vikram Rathour, Indian batting coach already has a rough idea about who all will make it to the World Cup squad, although the marquee event is a few days away.
The T20 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to be held in Australia last October, was moved to 2021 with India hosting the marquee event. India will host the first ICC T20 World Cup after five years in 2021.
Vikram Rathour Wants Batting Unit To Get Settled And Hopes There Wouldn’t Be Too Many Changes
The team begins their preparations for the T20I World Cup through the England T20Is starting Friday 12th March, and Vikram Rathour is confident that by the time the series is over, a clear picture about the squad will emerge.
“The [T20] World Cup is India, so I just want the batting unit to get settled basically. By the time we finish this series, we should know, ‘this is the team which is going to play the World Cup’,” Rathour told ESPNCricinfo.
“So hopefully that will happen in this series. I am already sure that there wouldn’t be too many changes anyway, because we are a pretty settled unit at the moment. But in case somebody loses form, or somebody gets injured, as a batting unit you just want to get settled now.”
Suryakumar Yadav scored above 400 runs in each of the last 3 editions of IPL. India have named three of IPL 2020’s top performers – batsman Suryakumar Yadav, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, and allrounder Rahul Tewatia in their squad for the 5-match T20I series against England that begins from March 12.
The squad also sees the return of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rishabh Pant, but Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, and Mayank Agarwal, who were all part of India’s last T20I assignment in Australia late last year, have missed out on selection.
Vikram Rathour : The Team Management Would Have Their Task Cut Out To Decide Whether To Pick Both In Form KL Rahul Or Rishabh Pant On Match Day
One of the biggest talking points going ahead in future will be the candidates for the wicketkeeper’s position. The last time India played T20Is, in Australia, KL Rahul, who after first being assigned wicketkeeping duties during early 2020, continued to perform the role of donning the gloves, but Vikram Rathour explained that with Rishabh Pant back in form, the selection will pose a bit of challenge.
“KL has done really well as a wicketkeeper-batsman. He has been a superb cricketer, he has batted really well, he has kept reasonably well. Now Rishabh [Pant] (is) back in form and doing well, let’s see how it goes. Once this situation comes, what the team management is looking to do, that’ll happen on the day of the game and how this series goes,” Vikram Rathour added.
Rishabh Pant has marked his comeback in the T20I side for the upcoming 5-match England series and is likely to be handed over the gloves by KL Rahul. KL Rahul scored 93 runs in 3 ODIs and 81 runs in 3 T20Is against Australia. KL Rahul was also the Orange Cap winner by virtue of being the highest run-getter in the IPL 2020 held at UAE, where he amassed 670 runs at an average of 55.83.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant scored 274 runs in 3 Tests in Australia averaging 68.5. He scored 91,11, unbeaten 58, 8, and 101 in the 5 innings against England. He has managed 270 runs against England averaging 54. He brought up his 3rd Test hundred in the 4th Test. His form in Tests paved his way for selection in T20Is against England.