ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Why are Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, and Ishan Kishan not in the ICC T20 World Cup?

The squad of all the participating teams has been filled with most of their regular choice international players, but sometimes it has been witnessed that a few talented and deserving players miss out on their spot in the team.

Here we will see three Indian players who failed to grab a spot despite being deserving candidates and the reason for them being on the other side of the line. 

Shikhar Dhawan- Orthodox batting approach

Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the most underrated players of the Indian cricket team. He has been a regular opener for the team in white ball format since 2013 but failed to find a place in the squad for Asia Cup or T20 World Cup 2022. 

Shikhar Dhawan scored 460 runs in IPL 2022 at a strike rate of 122.66 and was among the top run-scorers in the Indian batters but still didn't find a place. The most shocking part is that he was never in contention, as he didn't even make it to standby players. His absence from the T20 squad had left his fans in a bitter mood. 

The primary reason for his exclusion has been the pace at which he builds up an inning. His conservative batting approach is one reason for his omission from the World cup squad. 

Shikhar Dhawan is a good ODI player and is often a slow starter. As the team is following an aggressive and attacking approach, his way of playing might not serve the team's purpose rightfully. His method is perfect for the 50-over game but not so for the 20-over format.

The other simple reason behind his exclusion could be that the selectors do not want to invest in him for plans and have decided to go with young players.

Shreyas Iyer- Middle-Order batter profile

Shreyas Iyer was the most prolific middle-order that India got in the year 2020-21. Leading his side Delhi Capitals gracefully, he made a strong case for himself as a captaincy contender. But a shoulder injury in 2021 put him out of action for six months. And in his absence, India gave Suryakumar Yadav those chances, and he played surprisingly well. 

Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya leave no space for Shreyas Iyer. Deepak Hooda was recently impressed with his batting in the shortest format, he is also a middle-order batter himself. Hence the selectors had to overlook Shreyas Iyer for the position as they had so many options for middle-order batters.

Shreyas Iyer has been on the standby players list for the T20 World Cup 2022. He is not in the 15-man squad as he is a middle-order batter, and India's playing XI is already stacked with the best players in the middle.

Ishan Kishan- Existing experienced openers

The Indian management showed immense faith in Ishan Kishan as an opener by giving him plenty of opportunities in many matches. His opening stance with Rohit Sharma looked so evident that he was even called in for World Cup 2021, where he got only one inning to open and got dismissed on four runs. 

But early this year, he looked to struggle with scoring runs and the return of KL Rahul at such a time made him lose his spot in the squad. Unfortunately, he didn't even get a place in the reserve players for the T20 World Cup 2022.

"Obviously, it feels bad not to be part of a big team or a huge tournament where you'll find plenty of exposure. If you make your country win in that situation, it's a different feeling altogether. I feel I lack something that the selectors may have seen," said Ishan Kishan.