With the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November being the showpiece event of this year's cricket calendar, almost every big team including India, Australia, England, and Pakistan are involved in fine-tuning their strategies for the prestigious competition. Rohit Sharma-led Team India has also been in experimental mode, trying out several players at key positions – while Suryakumar Yadav has been sent as an opener, Arshdeep Singh earned rave reviews for his death bowling during the recent T20I series in the West Indies. At a time when India's chief tactician and head coach Rahul Dravid has been giving finishing touches to the side's final set of 15 cricketers who will fly out to Australia, numerous pundits have been making predictions about the men would travel Down Under as part of the Indian cricket team. The latest to join the debate is former India batter Ajay Jadeja. Though he stated that Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Hooda were certainties in the squad for the T20 World Cup, he didn't say the same for Dinesh Karthik. Ajay Jadeja also opined that if Virat Kohli doesn't find his form during the Asia Cup later this month, he shouldn't be picked in the side for the tournament in Australia.
Besides being critical of Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli, Ajay Jadeja had one more major surprise in store in his squad for the T20 World Cup.
Unlike Sanjay Manjrekar who was mightily impressed with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and named him as one of the main bowlers for India, Ajay Jadeja threw his weight behind Mohammed Shami's inclusion and Bhuvi's omission from the team that will head to Australia.
“I have added Shami to the team. So for me, I select bowlers first. So Shami is a certainty. Bumrah, Arshdeep and Chahal. These are the four certainties. In batting, four are certainties for me – Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Hooda. For this bowling attack, you have powerplay, middle overs and death overs sorted. You can bowl them anywhere. Even for the batters, they are flexible,” Ajay Jadeja told FanCode.
The Indians have employed an ultra-aggressive approach in T20Is since Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of the team from Virat Kohli at the start of the year and Ajay Jadeja reckons that they are heading in the right direction.
But Ajay Jadeja is of the view that both Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli don't fit in this new version of India because both are known for building their innings before going ballistic later on. That's why he is not in favor of offering them spots in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup.
“Now if you want to play the way I have heard them…aggressive then you have to pick differently. If Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma walks in, you need Dinesh Karthik at all cost. He is your insurance. But if you don't have either of them then Dinesh Karthik has no work here. But yes I would not put Karthik there, he can have a seat beside me. He is very good as a commentator. But there, in the team, I would not pick him. Now the decision is whether you want to play Ravindra or Axar. If it's Dhoni style, then add Kohli, Rohit and Karthik. But in modern-day cricket, you have to leave out Karthik. Maybe even Kohli depends on whether he is in form or not,” Ajay Jadeja explained.
Earlier, cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar had picked India's spinner for the T20 World Cup.
Speaking on Sports18's show ‘Sports Over The Top' Sanjay Manjrekar declared that while Yuzvendra Chahal was a sure shot pick in the final 15, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was fighting for a place with the likes of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and to a certain extent with Ravi Bishnoi as well.
“Who are his competitors now? You've got Chahal who's confirmed for spinner on current form. Then you've got Axar Patel, you've got Jadeja who could do a bit of bowling. Hooda bowled one over in the last game, then you've got Kuldeep Yadav, you've got Ravichandran Ashwin,” Manjrekar said referring to the possibility of seeing Ashwin in the team for the T20 World Cup.
“I think Ashwin’s selection on this tour was an excellent one. In the last couple of years in the Indian T20 league, Ashwin has started making an impact,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.
“I like Ashwin when he's with somebody like Chahal. So, the onus is not on Ashwin to change the tide. You know, the spinner’s job in T20 cricket, in the middle phase is to get wickets like Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj do for South Africa. That's where Ashwin lacked a bit as a T20 spinner. He focused a lot on the economy, but when you have somebody like Chahal, or if there's another wicket-taking wrist spinner, then Ashwin becomes a great compliment because Ashwin has mastered the art of being economical in T20 cricket. In the first T20, a couple of wickets was a great sign, but that's what you'll get with Ashwin, that compliment to the other main wicket-taking spinner in the team,” Manjrekar signed off.
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