With the South Africa series over, the Indian team is now set to take on Bangladesh for a series of 3 T20Is and 2 Tests starting from November 3. As reported earlier, the MSK Prasad-led BCCI’s selection committee will be meeting on Thursday to select the squad for the series. Also, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) having accepted most of the demands of its players late on Wednesday night, the dark clouds which were hanging over the series have cleared up.
Even though the Indian team has been on a winning run since the World Cup 2019, the selectors will still have a number of calls to make when they gather to pick the side.
Virat Kohli
The squad for the T20I series might not feature the all-important name of captain Virat Kohli. The selection panel will decide whether Virat Kohli will feature in the series or will be given rest as he is playing extensively after the World Cup. Workload management of the players has been a priority with the team under Kohli and while most of the senior players have had a break on and off, Kohli last took a break in January when he sat out the final two ODIs against New Zealand and the T20 series that followed.
If Kohli is rested, Rohit Sharma in all likelihood might be leading the team in his absence.
MS Dhoni
Addressing the all-important issue over future of World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni, newly appointed BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who took the charge officially on Wednesday, said Dhoni is one of the greats of the game and he will be respected under his tenure.
“It depends on him. I have always said when I was left out and the entire world said ‘I will never make it.’ I came back and played for 4 years. Champions don’t finish very quickly. I don’t know what’s in his mind or what he thinks about his career. But we will deal with that,” Ganguly said in a press conference on Wednesday.
While it is not certain whether Dhoni has made himself available for selection for the Bangladesh series, MSK Prasad will surely have to answer a few questions about the former India captain once the meeting is over.
Young guns
The series will also be an opportunity for India to try out fresh faces in the middle-order. Mumbai’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, who recently became the youngest batsman to hit a double hundred in List A cricket could get a look in along with all-rounder Shivam Dube who hogged the limelight with a quick-fire 118 in 67 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Apart from the young guns, KL Rahul (546 runs) and Manish Pandey (525 runs) who have enjoyed a phenomenal run of form while helping their team Karnataka reach the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, could get another chance to cement their places in the Indian team.
Rishabh Pant
Pant’s confidence has taken a hit after a number of reckless shots in the past few innings led him to being left out of the playing XIs during the Test series vs South Africa. It will be interesting to see if the selectors go for a back-up wicketkeeper to incite Pant into batting with more responsibility and not taking his spot in the team for granted. Kerala stumper Sanju Samson, who scored 410 runs at a strike-rate of 125 including a blazing double hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy might get a look in.