Misters and Misses

A distinct slant towards spin evidenced by the presence of four tweakers and the noninclusion of Rinku Singh a designated finisher were among the biggest talking points as Indiarsquos selectors named the 15 for the T20 World Cup starting in a monthrsquos timeIndia will play their four initialround games in New York three matches and Lauderhill and the universal consensus is that surfaces at these two venues as well as in the Caribbean will have more in them for the spinners than the faster bowlers That has facilitated a comeback to the T20 scheme of things for the first time since August last year of Yuzvendra Chahal the legspinner who is in the middle of another wonderful IPLChahal ahead of BishnoiChahal forms a potent quartet alongside leftarm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav and allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel the selectors opting for the experience and pedigree of Chahal ahead of Ravi Bishnoi who has been tidy but is shy of wickets in the IPLRinku had been a shooin for the World Cup at the start of the IPL but in a straight shootout he lost out to Shivam Dube also an explosive lefthanded middleorder powerhouse who can also bowl handy medium pace Dube hasnrsquot bowled a single ball for Chennai Super Kings but the fact that he can chip in if required has earned him the nod as one of two fastmedium allrounders alongside Hardik Pandya who has been named Rohit Sharmarsquos deputy even though he hasnrsquot had a great run for Mumbai Indians in his first stint as his franchisersquos designated skipperRinku versus Dube was one of several straight contests the others involved Sanju Samson and KL Rahul for the second wicketkeeperrsquos slot behind Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for the right to open alongside Rohit Samsonrsquos stunning consistency and his calmness under pressure both of which have shone through this season tilted the scales in his favour and even though Gill has been the more prolific of the two openers in contention the nod went to Jaiswal his lefthandedness perhaps doing the trick Rinku Rahul and Gill must consider themselves desperately unlucky to miss the bus but with so many options at their disposal any call the selectors make will have both supporters and detractorsAlso ReadWait for the knives to be outThe selection panel hasnrsquot gone entirely by IPL numbers though That is clear from their continued faith in both Pandya and Mohammed Siraj who is only just beginning to hit his straps after an iffy start to the tournament The temptation to turn to Tilak Varma one of the few bright spots this season for MI might have been overwhelming but the logjam at the top of the batting order precluded the young lefthanderrsquos inclusionConsistent KohliIt was impossible to look beyond Virat Kohlirsquos blazing consistencymdashhis 500 runs have come at a strike rate of more than 147mdashand Suryakumar Yadavrsquos standing as the best T20 batsman in the world which automatically meant that several potential leftfield contenders fell by the wayside In any case Indiarsquos selectors have seldom been known to go with outofthebox choices for a tournament as highprofile as a World Cup so the touch of predictability to the 15strong party is understandableThe peerless Jasprit Bumrah helms a trio of specialist quicksmdashArshdeep Singh provides the leftarm varietymdashin a further indication of how the thinktank expects the pitches to behave in North America In the final analysis there is balance and depth in the squad there is also oodles of experience and an obvious trust in the tried and the tested Previous campaigns with a similar approach havenrsquot paid dividends for over a decade now but hope always springs eternal doesnrsquot itT20 World Cup squadRohit Sharma captain Hardik Pandya vc Yashasvi Jaiswal Virat Kohli Suryakumar Yadav Rishabh Pant wk Sanju Samson wk Shivam Dube Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Yuzvendra Chahal Arshdeep Singh Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed SirajReserves Shubman Gill Rinku Singh Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan