India might drop these players before the upcoming T20I series vs West Indies

Mumbai: In the last T20I match, India might have scrapped through to win the match by 30-runs to seal the home series 2-1. If it were not for Shivam Dube’s vital spell, which had sent back all set Mohammad Naim, Captain Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim, India would have let Bangladesh script history by registering their first away series win over the hosts.

Deepak Chahar, who was the main destructor of Bangladesh’s batting order, scalped six wickets to register his best figures in the shortest format of the game. While, in the batting department, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul powered India to a challenging total of 174.

Despite winning the series by a whisker, for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies, India would look to drop a few players, who have under-performed. These players have failed live up to the expectations.

Khaleel Ahmed

After India gave Shivam Dube and Deepak Chahar chances to prove themselves, the duo pounced on the opportunity and turned it in favour of themselves.

The selectors and team management have also given Khaleel Ahmed several chances to prove his worth, but the youngster failed to repay the faith.

During the last match, Khaleel Ahmed proved to be too costly, as the tonk-born Rajasthani player gave away 54 runs at an economy of 9. During the first and second T20I, the Bangladeshi batsmen took on Khaleel, and they blasted him away for three and four straight fours.

Since Khaleel started playing T20Is, the tall and medium-fast bowler’s real problem has been the economy. Since his debut in 2018, the Indian bowler’s economy has been shifting from 8 to 9.

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant’s form still continues to be a worry for the selectors and team management. The 22-year-old has failed to impress with the bat and the gloves.

During the first and third T20I, young Pant created a big howler when he tried to persuade stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma to take a review, which ultimately got wasted as the decision was turned in-favour of the batsman.

Pant’s efforts to copy Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s instincts to take Decision Review System (DRS) has failed miserably, as the number of times he convinced Rohit to take DRS, has went in vain. Following his failed attempts, critics pounced on the opportunity to chastise him.

Not to mention about his efforts with the bat, the Delhi Capitals player, who was touted to be India’s number 4, had failed to repay the faith, that selectors put in him, when he was selected during the 2019 World Cup.

The hype surrounding Pant, seemed to be too much exaggerating, as the young blood started to feel the pressure – as to what it feels like to bat for India at number 4 and 5.

Pant’s talent seemed to have overshadowed by his failures. The only time the player managed to score a fifty was during the away T20I series, in which he scored a sensible yet aggressive knock of 65.

Shikhar Dhawan

Since Dhawan got injured during the World Cup, the player seemed to be beyond his prime past, as in the recently concluded T20i series, the left-hander could amass just 91 runs, including a 41 in the third and final T20I. Dhawan scored that 41 at a below-par strike rate of 107.05.

Dhawan’s last 12 matches show how the cricketer has faltered after his injury. After playing 12 matches, Dhawan could pile up just 272 runs at a strike rate of 110.56. Moreover, among those 12 games, there were five games, in which he had a strike rate below 100.

In fact, instead of the aggressive opener, India could use KL Rahul, who has a decent strike-rate of 145.37, along with a standard average of 42.34.