Dugout News: IPL & T20 World Cup

 

• Akash Chopra on the need to drop NPA for T20 World Cup 

 While plenty of time is available before the World Cup to decide who deserves to be in the XI, former Indian batter Aakash Chopra has already named his preference on India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. And these preferences are based on the performance of players seen in the recently concluded IPL 2022. His choices left fans scratching their heads as he dropped Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and even Rishabh Pant from the squad. 

He justified his thought with their IPL numbers as Virat Kohli could manage only 341 in 16 matches, whereas Rohit Sharma scored 268 in 14. Even Pant had disappointing numbers and failures as a wicketkeeper. 

He thus showed his choice in KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as openers, followed by Rahul Tripathi and Suryakumar Yadav at number three and four, respectively. Choosing Hardik Pandya as captain, he sees him as the team's middle-order, finisher, and fourth potential fast bowler. In place of Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik is a wicketkeeper who has kept his strike rate 180-plus and finished a lot of matches. He finds Krunal Pandya the best fit at number seven, which comes in handy with the bat and had an economic season with the ball. He finds a series of choices among bowlers between Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami. 

For reserves, the former cricketer has kept players like Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah. 

While his playing XI is justified if only this season of IPL is considered the basis for their ongoing form and selection for the World Cup, it may not sound fair with these critical players' experience and past contributions in important matches. 

• Mohammad Azharuddin on Pandya- 'Don't know how long he will bowl'.

Star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has impressed everyone with the comeback he made in IPL 2022 and led his team, Gujarat Titans, to triumph in the first attempt. Hardik Pandya was out from the national team due to injury-induced inconsistency, making everyone raise questions about his skills. However, in the just-concluded IPL season, he turned out to be the fourth-highest run-scorer, scoring 487 runs in 15 matches. He also took eight wickets in 10 innings giving an economy of 7.28. His best performance came in the finals of IPL 2022 when he took three wickets and scored 34 runs against Rajasthan Royals. 

He was concerned about his consistency despite giving such a performance, as raised by legendary former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin.

He said, "He has the ability. He has done well for the Indian team, but because of the injuries, he was not in the team consistently. He has come back now; he is bowling his four overs. How long he will bowl, we really don't know. But we definitely want him to bowl since he is an all-rounder."

He highlighted that Hardik Pandya has played good cricket but has a bad track record of injuries affecting his longevity. Even legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar advised Pandya to bulk up a little to avoid injuries a couple of years ago. 

As a piece of advice to Hardik, Azharuddin said, "In the IPL final, he completely changed the game. He took three wickets in four overs; then he scored 34 quick runs. He is a good talent; he just needs that consistency."

After IPL, it will be interesting to see how the all-rounder performs and makes a comeback in international cricket via the upcoming tour to South Africa. 

 * Sangakkara backs Riyan Parag’s potential

Riyan Parag has been a part of the controversial debate for a long time, owing to his catch celebration. Fans criticised his attitude, citing his performance and highlighting that he has not scored runs in the title showdown. The batter got dismissed for 15 runs and failed to give a desirable end to Rajasthan's innings, leaving them with a score of 130 on the scoreboard.

Amidst all the sayings, Rajasthan Royals Director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said that the team needs to improve. He said, "Well, we have got a lot of improving to do in all areas. If you take our batting, we had huge contributions from Jos (Buttler), Sanju, and Shimron Hetymer at the early stages."

He backed Riyan Parag amid all criticism and said, "I think [Riyan Parag], he has got a huge amount of potential, and we got to work him into higher batting number by the time we come in next season. I look forward to kind of grooming him to become more of a kind of an early middle-order player rather than just a death-hitter. Because I think he is so accomplished against spin as well as pace."

Rajasthan assembled a strong squad in auctions, and results were visible throughout the league. Though they ended up being a runner-up, they will look to make a solid comeback next season.