After a dominating Test series at home against the teams like South Africa and Bangladesh, Team India is heading towards the T20 International series to be played against West Indies, which begins from December 6.
T20 World Cup starts on October 18 next year; therefore, the Men in Blue will be looking forward to settling their best 15-man squad and ideal playing XI as they will play 11 T20Is before they meet South Africa to play their opening game on October 24, 2020.
The selectors have recalled some senior players back in the squad for West Indies T20Is, and it gives a clear indication that the management is looking to assemble a pool of young as well as experienced players.
A three-match T20I series will be an opportunity for the team management to weigh up the performance of those players who haven’t yet deep-rooted their place in the squad.
Here’s the list of 4 Indian players who could make an impact in the upcoming T20I series:
Shreyas Iyer
Team India has struggled in the past to find a decent middle-order batsman. Still, Shreyas Iyer, with his impressive knocks, has somehow given the confidence to the skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri that he can be trusted and given more opportunities.
The Mumbai batsman has played 11 T20Is and scored over 200 runs, with 62 being the highest. He was recently called up to play T20Is against South Africa and Bangladesh, where he displayed his skills as a reliable attacking batsman. He earned applauds for his leadership during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 when he guided Delhi Capitals to the play-Offs.
The series against West Indies would be crucial for Iyer as it may establish his credentials as the number four batsman in T20Is after successfully securing a place in ODIs.
Kuldeep Yadav
The upcoming series would be extremely vital for the left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav as he returns to the T20I squad after a gap of nearly nine months. Kuldeep played his last T20I against New Zealand in February this year.
The Chinaman has played 18 T20Is for India and earned 35 wickets with 5/24 being his best. In 2018, Kuldeep was the highest wicket-taker for the Men in Blue and the 5th overall. In just nine matches, the Kanpur born took 21 wickets at an incredible strike rate of 9.8.
After the revival of Ravindra Jadeja and the emergence of Washington Sundar, Kuldeep will be hoping to prove his worth in this series and return to magic touch. And if that happens, then he would find a place in the 2020 T20 World Cup.
Rishabh Pant
Despite failures in the limited-overs format, Rishabh Pant is trying his best to meet the expectations of 1.3 billion critics.
Pant averages below 20 in 23 T20Is and has scored just two fifties with 65 not out being his highest. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper will be eying the next few games to cash-in the opportunity as Sanju Samson is also a strong contender for the final 15; however, the Kerela lad has played only one T20I.
KL Rahul
Injury to Shikhar Dhawan ahead of the T20I series cleared the pathway for KL Rahul. All eyes will be on the right-hander as he will be an automatic choice to open with Rohit Sharma. Rahul is enjoying a purple patch with the bat as he has just won the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament with Karnataka.
Rahul has scored 192 runs in six T20Is this year, with two half-centuries at an average of 38.40 and a strike rate of 134.26. He will be hoping to cement his position in the starting XI as the next World Cup is not too far.
Overall, Rahul has an incredible T20I record. He has played 31 matches so far and amassed nearly 1000 runs with a dazzling average of 42.3. The 27-year-old has scored two international centuries in the T20 format and six fifties with 110 not out being his highest.
