Five All Rounders Who Can Represent Team India Soon Under The New Selection Committee

Team India is blessed to have an all-rounder of the quality of Hardik Pandya available in the ranks. Especially in white-ball cricket. However, since his comeback post back surgery, Hardik has played as a specialist batsman. This has forced the team to rejig the balance, with someone like Ravindra Jadeja given the opportunity.

The new selection panel led by chairman Chetan Sharma will hope that while Hardik regains his bowling fitness, Jadeja makes his chances count. If that isn’t the case, Sharma and the fellow selectors will have to spread the net wider and look for utility options to fill the void.

Five All Rounders Who Can Represent Team India Soon Under The New Selection Committee:

5. Rahul Tewatia

Tewatia was the biggest positive to have come out of an otherwise disappointing Rajasthan Royals (RR) campaign in IPL 2020. The Haryana cricketer jumped to fame with an outstanding turnaround against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). He hit pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five consecutive sixes and took RR to victory in Sharjah from the jaws of defeat.

Overall, the left-hand batsman scored 255 runs at a strike-rate of 139.34. As a leg-spinner, Tewatia took 10 wickets while delivering his overs at an economy of only 7.08. The 27-year-old can gain prominence within the Indian team set-up if he has another fruitful IPL season for Royals this year.

4. Krunal Pandya

Unlike Tewatia, Krunal didn’t have the best IPL 2020. But the Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder can be a dangerous proposition at his best. Krunal can hit the ball big in the lower middle-order and deliver tight overs with his left-arm spin.

His overall IPL career record gives a very impressive reading. The 29-year-old has batted at a strike-rate of 142.45 and bowled with an economy of 7.26 across 71 games. Krunal has been part of the Indian set-up too and has played 18 T20Is. If given a recall, he’ll be desperate to cement his place in the side.

3. Shivam Dube

In limited opportunities for India, Dube showed raw qualities and potential, especially while batting. He was also quite handy with bat and ball for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the last year’s IPL.

The left-hander batted with a strike-rate of 122.46 and filled-in regularly as a fifth bowling option, giving away 8.11 runs per over. Dube has featured in a standalone ODI and 12 T20Is for India. With more experience behind him, the 25-year-old will hope to regain selectors’ trust.

2. Vijay Shankar

Shankar played the 2019 World Cup for India as an all-rounder. But an injury saw him left-out of the set-up, not to be redrafted ever since. The Tamil Nadu cricketer had a point to prove in last year’s edition of the IPL in UAE.

Though he featured in only seven games for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Shankar did his job quite well. He played anchor within the top 4 and delivered cheap overs as a fifth bowling option. Shankar will want to remind the selectors of his quality via the forthcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and could well be back playing for India soon.

1. Axar Patel

Axar last played for India in early 2018. The left-arm spinner got dropped from the side because of an injury which coincided with the rise of wrist-spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. He has an impressive record for a finger-spinner in contemporary white-ball cricket. Axar has played 38 ODIs and 11 T2OIs for India. He has delivered his overs with respectable economy rates of 4.43 and 6.79 in either format.

In the IPL 2020, Axar was just as miserly. He bowled with an economy of only 6.41 across 15 matches. Axar’s control and accuracy have never been in doubt. In recent times, he has also improved his range as a batsman. In the same IPL, the Gujarat cricketer batted at a strike-rate of 137.64 and added crucial runs lower down the order. Axar might find favours from the national selectors again if he continues in this vein.