The final week of the year 2022 has marked to be a stepping stone in the current stage of the Indian Cricket team. This can be said so because the T20I and the 50-over squads for Team India have been announced for the upcoming home – series against Sri Lanka. Let’s take a look at the T20I squad for the home tour of the Sri Lankan series, and what prospects will it have on the future of Indian cricket. So, these are the prominent features of the squad-
- No place for Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant: Veteran Shikhar Dhawan who led the Indian team in the two unsuccessful shorter version tours to New Zealand and Bangladesh has not been given a place in the squad. Similarly, another inconsistent performer, Rishabh Pant has also not found any place in the squad, as Ishan Kishan replaces him as the gloveman on the side.
- Hardik Pandya as the leader: Young and dynamic Hardik Pandya, who has proven his capabilities as a leader in the shortest version of the format has rightly been given the captaincy, ahead of the veteran, Rohit Sharma.
- Dual-Captaincy System: For the first time in the history of Indian cricket, the BCCI has adopted to the ‘Split Captaincy’ system, by giving the T20I captaincy to Hardik Pandya, and the ODI leadership to Rohit Sharma. This is a welcome step.
- The Vice-Captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav: The T20I specialist Suryakumar Yadav has been given the charge to be deputy to the dynamic Hardik Pandya.
- Return of Sanju Samson: A stylish batter and a proven modern-day batter cum keeper, Samson after much debate about being left out of the team for the shortest versions in most of the tournament makes a comeback. The Rajasthan Royals maverick batter has another advantage in his bag. He can bat at any position and perform well for the side.
Thus, with these many changes, it appears that in the New Year, this new Team India will prove to be a better team and Indian Cricket will reach new heights in the most-loved format of the game. Let us wait and see, with these many new changes and experiments, how the Indian boys led by Hardik Pandya match the geniuses of the Lankan Tigers, the defending champions of the Asia Cup – 2022.
