New Delhi. When India stepped into the ICC T20 World Cup last year, questions were raised over the selection of players who were either unfit or out of form and were later criticized for their poor results in the tournament. Last year the squad for the T20 World Cup was announced ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League and the way some selected players performed in the league showed how prepared India was for the ICC event. At that time, many former cricketers had suggested a change in the team, but the selection committee went ahead with the same team and India were eliminated in the early stages.
With IPL 2022, netizens have again started sharing their views and some of them even said that a new team should be formed for the T20 format. Some said that the selection committee should choose the team based on the performance of the players and not the big names. One wrote on Twitter, “In the team we need young players for the World Cup. BCCI please pick players from IPL as young players are doing their best in IPL.” Another wrote, “IPL can guide BCCI well.” The T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in Australia in October this year and it is time for India to pick the best team for the tournament.
India will play 10 T20 matches (5 with South Africa, 2 with Ireland and 3 with England) before the World Cup and it is believed that during this period many youngsters will be shortlisted and given a chance in the team. Many big players are not in their form in the current IPL. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are still struggling with form. Both have played five matches and are yet to score a half-century. Fans are waiting for a big hit from the batsmen but so far the bat of Virat and Rohit has failed to work. This is also a matter of concern ahead of the World Cup as it is a fast-paced game and the way young talent performs, it will be challenging for the selectors to ignore the talent on the big names.
Also, Ravindra Jadeja is leading the captaincy at CSK and has been unable to play his all-rounder innings. Hardik Pandya’s return as a de facto all-rounder will also be discussed in the coming months. But as a batsman, in his last match against Rajasthan Royals on Friday, he showed some brilliant cricketing shots, scoring 87 off 52 balls. Dinesh Karthik’s role as a finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) could see the 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman joining India as the team looks to rebuild for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. In IPL 2022, Karthik has been a key finisher for RCB, scoring 131 runs and averaging the same number of runs with a strike-rate of 218.33.
At the same time, Shikhar Dhawan (36), playing for Punjab Kings, is also in good form. He has scored 197 runs in the matches played so far. The left-handed batsman was overlooked last year, but this time he has a chance to make it to the team. The 36-year-old Robin Uthappa (Chennai Super Kings) is also a strong contender as he has scored 194 runs in five matches so far and is looking in fine form. However, there are still many matches left in the 2022 IPL and it is believed that the performance of the players will be discussed after the league is over.