Analysis | Team India Tri-series and World Cup Squad Selection
Written By: Ritwika Dhar
Date: 30-12-2022
Picture Courtesy: Getty Images
The Indian squad selections always left us surprised. But this time around, in a positive way. Before we dive into a detailed analysis, let’s have a look at the squads for the all-important T20 World Cup and the tri-series India will play against South Africa and the West Indies ahead of the WC.
India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk) Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, *Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh
*Note: Pooja Vastrakar’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness
India’s squad for Tri-series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sushma Verma (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Amanjot Kaur, *Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey
*Note: Pooja Vastrakar’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness
All matches will be played at Buffalo Park, East London.
Domestic performances have been rewarded
We have seen how leg-spinner Devika Vaidya and left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani rocketed their way through to the national side by having exceptional domestic seasons. The trend continued with this selection as well. After a disappointing home series with the ball against Australia, selectors have relied on the experience and brought back the veteran pacer, Shikha Pandey. The last time we saw Pandey grace international cricket was in the multi-format series vs Australia in October 2021. In that very series, we witnessed the famous incoming delivery that dismissed Alyssa Healy.
To earn her place back in the Indian squad, she toiled hard in the 2022-23 domestic T20 season and took 20 wickets. She played an integral part in the 2020 T20 World Cup success and once again got picked before the all-important T20 WC. The former Chandigarh captain, 21-year-old pace all-rounder Amanjot Kaur received her maiden international call-up after her notable 2022 season. She has been selected in the Indian squad for the Tri-series.
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In the absence of the regular wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, who is currently a part of the U-19 side for the U-19 T20 WC, selectors had to pick another keeper alongside Yastika Bhatia for the Tri-series. After a breakthrough season, Sushma Verma got the nod and made her way to the Indian team. She scored 442 runs at a strike rate of 111 in the 3 tournaments of the 2022-23 T20 domestic season.
India's transition from being a spin-dominant side to a pace-dominant side
India have been blessed with some world-class spinners over the years. But in the last one year, we have seen a sudden shift in focus for Indian management to build a pace battery. Assumably due to having back-to-back World Cups in countries like New Zealand and South Africa where pacers get more assistance from the pitch. Renuka Singh's destructive swing bowling made the headlines this year many times. She was India’s 2nd best T20I bowler after Deepti Sharma with 22 wickets. Her bowling will be accompanied by another in-swing bowler. Shikha Pandey from the other end and Vastrakar in the middle overs with her variations. Anjali Sarvani’s left-arm pace ensured that she had a memorable debut series. Her first three int'l wickets were Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, and Beth Mooney.
But this sudden rise of pacers, outperforming the spinners is also due to India's lack of consistency in backing the spinners and the individuals' ratcheting down performance. Deepti Sharma, who is a prominent wicket-taker and partnership-breaker has been very expensive lately. But one can't ignore that she bowls both in the powerplay and death overs. On the other hand, Rajeshwari Gayakawad's chances have been far and few. This is because of India's preference for Radha Yadav who has struggled to nail down the opportunities that she has got. Amongst the Indian bowlers in T20Is this year who bowled at least in 10 innings, Radha had the worst average of 37.18. Surprisingly, Sneh Rana who had a great year with the ball ended up being the 3rd best T20I bowler for India with 19 wickets and the 2nd best economy of 6.50 (among the Indian bowlers who bowled in min. 10 innings) in the reserves of the T20WC squad.
The tri-series won't be ideal preparation for Team India
The absence of Shafali and Richa will push India for some inevitable changes in their batting line-up. For the vacant opening slot, S. Meghana and Yastika Bhatia are the available options to occupy one of the spots. Also, Jemimah Rodrigues' recent downfall in her form after having a solid year saw her replaced by Harleen Deol at #3.
In the lower order after captain Harmanpreet, India have Devika Vaidya and Deepti Sharma, who are not great strikers of the ball. To solve this finishing conundrum, India needs Pooja Vastrakar to be fit. But the ray of hope for India will be Shikha Pandey's recent form with the bat. Also, Sushma Verma is in sublime touch, but it seems India's first-choice keeper would be Yastika.
Amanjot Kaur's selection also posed some questions. For quite some time, India had the pace all-rounder Simran Dil Bahadur in their scheme of things. She’s a good wicket-to-wicket bowler and a brilliant left-handed finisher. We have seen her finishing capability in the Women’s T20 Challenge earlier this year. She was also among India’s net bowlers in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia. Whereas Amanjot Kaur had a decent season but she will be also another opener who will be trying to fit in the finisher's role like Kiran Navgire.
So in the tri-series, to fill the gaps left by Shafali and Richa, India have to field a completely overhauled batting line-up. This cannot provide an ideal preparation for the Indian team leading up to the World Cup.
This is a squad with serious potential to be the world champions. But it will all boil down to how the management (without a head coach or bowling coach) executes the plans.
Analysis | Team India Tri-series and World Cup Squad Selection
Written By: Ritwika Dhar
Date: 30-12-2022
Picture Courtesy: Getty Images
The Indian squad selections always left us surprised. But this time around, in a positive way. Before we dive into a detailed analysis, let’s have a look at the squads for the all-important T20 World Cup and the tri-series India will play against South Africa and the West Indies ahead of the WC.
India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk) Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, *Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh
*Note: Pooja Vastrakar’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness
India’s squad for Tri-series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sushma Verma (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Amanjot Kaur, *Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey
*Note: Pooja Vastrakar’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness
All matches will be played at Buffalo Park, East London.
Domestic performances have been rewarded
We have seen how leg-spinner Devika Vaidya and left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani rocketed their way through to the national side by having exceptional domestic seasons. The trend continued with this selection as well. After a disappointing home series with the ball against Australia, selectors have relied on the experience and brought back the veteran pacer, Shikha Pandey. The last time we saw Pandey grace international cricket was in the multi-format series vs Australia in October 2021. In that very series, we witnessed the famous incoming delivery that dismissed Alyssa Healy.
To earn her place back in the Indian squad, she toiled hard in the 2022-23 domestic T20 season and took 20 wickets. She played an integral part in the 2020 T20 World Cup success and once again got picked before the all-important T20 WC. The former Chandigarh captain, 21-year-old pace all-rounder Amanjot Kaur received her maiden international call-up after her notable 2022 season. She has been selected in the Indian squad for the Tri-series.
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In the absence of the regular wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, who is currently a part of the U-19 side for the U-19 T20 WC, selectors had to pick another keeper alongside Yastika Bhatia for the Tri-series. After a breakthrough season, Sushma Verma got the nod and made her way to the Indian team. She scored 442 runs at a strike rate of 111 in the 3 tournaments of the 2022-23 T20 domestic season.
India's transition from being a spin-dominant side to a pace-dominant side
India have been blessed with some world-class spinners over the years. But in the last one year, we have seen a sudden shift in focus for Indian management to build a pace battery. Assumably due to having back-to-back World Cups in countries like New Zealand and South Africa where pacers get more assistance from the pitch. Renuka Singh's destructive swing bowling made the headlines this year many times. She was India’s 2nd best T20I bowler after Deepti Sharma with 22 wickets. Her bowling will be accompanied by another in-swing bowler. Shikha Pandey from the other end and Vastrakar in the middle overs with her variations. Anjali Sarvani’s left-arm pace ensured that she had a memorable debut series. Her first three int'l wickets were Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, and Beth Mooney.
But this sudden rise of pacers, outperforming the spinners is also due to India's lack of consistency in backing the spinners and the individuals' ratcheting down performance. Deepti Sharma, who is a prominent wicket-taker and partnership-breaker has been very expensive lately. But one can't ignore that she bowls both in the powerplay and death overs. On the other hand, Rajeshwari Gayakawad's chances have been far and few. This is because of India's preference for Radha Yadav who has struggled to nail down the opportunities that she has got. Amongst the Indian bowlers in T20Is this year who bowled at least in 10 innings, Radha had the worst average of 37.18. Surprisingly, Sneh Rana who had a great year with the ball ended up being the 3rd best T20I bowler for India with 19 wickets and the 2nd best economy of 6.50 (among the Indian bowlers who bowled in min. 10 innings) in the reserves of the T20WC squad.
The tri-series won't be ideal preparation for Team India
The absence of Shafali and Richa will push India for some inevitable changes in their batting line-up. For the vacant opening slot, S. Meghana and Yastika Bhatia are the available options to occupy one of the spots. Also, Jemimah Rodrigues' recent downfall in her form after having a solid year saw her replaced by Harleen Deol at #3.
In the lower order after captain Harmanpreet, India have Devika Vaidya and Deepti Sharma, who are not great strikers of the ball. To solve this finishing conundrum, India needs Pooja Vastrakar to be fit. But the ray of hope for India will be Shikha Pandey's recent form with the bat. Also, Sushma Verma is in sublime touch, but it seems India's first-choice keeper would be Yastika.
Amanjot Kaur's selection also posed some questions. For quite some time, India had the pace all-rounder Simran Dil Bahadur in their scheme of things. She’s a good wicket-to-wicket bowler and a brilliant left-handed finisher. We have seen her finishing capability in the Women’s T20 Challenge earlier this year. She was also among India’s net bowlers in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia. Whereas Amanjot Kaur had a decent season but she will be also another opener who will be trying to fit in the finisher's role like Kiran Navgire.
So in the tri-series, to fill the gaps left by Shafali and Richa, India have to field a completely overhauled batting line-up. This cannot provide an ideal preparation for the Indian team leading up to the World Cup.
This is a squad with serious potential to be the world champions. But it will all boil down to how the management (without a head coach or bowling coach) executes the plans.