T20I World Cup: More questions than answers!

When the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI announced the Indian squad for the T20I World Cup through a press release on Monday there were questions galore in the minds of the media and critics alike but had no answers forthcoming as there was no interaction online or otherwise planned for them with the team management or even the national selectorsThe media may have many unanswered questions but one hopes that the team management will have all the answers before the squad leaves for the mega event in Australia next monthAlso ReadSC to hear BCCIrsquos plea on tenure of officebearersIndia pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal PatelThe biggest question concerns the fitness of the two main fast bowlersmdashJasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel They have been away from the game for a couple of months and there is no update on their progress or recovery timeline in the press release Fortunately the BCCI has lined up two threematch T20I home series against Australia and South Africa before the Men in Blue travel to Australia for the T20I World Cup with the main round beginning on October 22 In these six T20I matches at home we will hopefully get some answers concerning the fitness of the duo and know if they will be fit enough to be part of the strenuous tournament to be played on big grounds and hard pitches Down Under The only thing we know right now is that there are two pace bowlers on standby for the T20I World CupmdashMohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar So we presume the team management is still wary about the fitness of Bumrah and Harshal and thatrsquos the reason both Shami and Chahar are also part of the teams that will take on Australia and South Africa at homeRight now it seems pretty obvious that if Bumrah is not fit enough to play the World Cup then Shami will replace him Though it seems odd that Shami who is not considered good enough to earn his place on his own merit is good enough to replace Bumrah Chahar too is on standby in case Harshal fails the fitness test before the teamrsquos departure Besides Arshdeep Singh during the home series against Australia and Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar during the South African series will be sent to the National Cricket Academy NCA in Bangalore to work on their fitness Hopefully they will clear their fitness tests to travel to AustraliaPoor show at Asia CupBesides the fitness of the pacers another major concern is Indiarsquos lacklustre performance at the recent Asia Cup in Dubai It has put a question mark on the form of the top three batters as skipper Rohit Sharma KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have had issues with both form and strike rate throughout the tournament Also the inconsistency of the middle order has been quite glaring The conditions will be much tougher Down Under so the struggle of the batting lineup is disconcerting Of course the top three were able to play an innings or two of substance which is a good signAnother dilemma is whether to play Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik as the wicketkeeper or whether DK fits in as a pure batsman having been considered in the role of a finisher At the Asia Cup they got limited opportunities to provide a definite answerAlso in doubt is the role and utility of offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin The experienced campaigner has warmed the bench more often than not and the way he was handled in Dubai it seems the team management has no confidence in him Yet he is in the squad for the T20I World Cup There is no doubting his experience and calibre but surely hersquos not considered a frontline spinner anymore So his role remains a mystery Shami couldrsquove been picked in his placeDespite all the questions and concerns the only good thing is that the team management has always been sure of the squad they would take to Australia In the midst of the Asia Cup when skipper Rohit was asked about the World Cup squad he had said that they had zeroed in on 90 to 95 percent of the team And thatrsquos exactly what has happened Only Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan and his replacement Deepak Chahar from the Asia Cup squad have been left outAlso ReadAsia Cup 2022 Wickets of Hardik Pandya Rishabh was not needed at that time says Rohit SharmaPlayers in waitingThe skipperrsquos statement virtually closed the doors on players waiting in the wings like Ishan Kishan Sanju Samson Shubman Gill Rajat Patidar and Ruturaj Gaikwad who must now bide their time till after the World CupThere is no doubt that skipper Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid had zeroed in on the squad quite early apparently their aim being to ldquoswim or sink with the team of our choicerdquo But have they ticked all the boxes going into the mega event Indiarsquos recent performance in the UAE has raised numerous issues for the team management and selectors alike No wonder they did not want to face the media after the Asia Cup debacle