What will be India’s playing-11 in the T20I World Cup?:Samson or Ishan, who’ll keep the wickets? Will Bumrah handle pace department alone?

The 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup has been announced. The tournament is scheduled to begin on 7 February, and India’s first match will be against the USA in Mumbai. The Men in Blue are set to face Pakistan in Colombo on 15 February. Let’s find out what India’s possible playing-11 could look like in this ICC tournament. India has 3 options to pick as opening pair There are 3 contenders for the opening spots in the team – Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan. Looking at past performances, Abhishek and wicketkeeper Samson are likely to open. Both have opened in 13 matches so far and scored 330 runs at a strike rate of over 167. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar also stated that the wicketkeeper’s position in the playing-11 combination is at the opening slot. Therefore, Samson and Ishan are the best options. Ishan will only get a chance if either Samson or Abhishek is injured or out of form. He has scored 6 fifties in 32 T20Is for India. Middle order yet to be finalised Captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are confirmed to bat at the number 3 and 4 positions. Even though Surya hasn’t scored a fifty in the last 12 months, he has 4 T20 centuries to his name. Meanwhile, Tilak has made the middle-order position his own, having also scored 2 centuries and 6 fifties in 40 matches. Also Read: Indian women domestic cricketers’ match fees increased: Senior players to earn ₹50,000 per day as BCCI introduces pay hike after ICC Women’s World Cup win If Team India considers strengthening its batting, then Rinku Singh might also get a chance. In this condition, the team will only be able to play 3 specialist bowlers in the playing XI. Then the team might have to get the remaining 8 overs bowled by all-rounders. On the other hand, if 4 specialist bowlers get a chance, then Rinku will have to sit out. A decision on this will be made considering the team and pitch conditions. All-rounders will handle the finishing responsibility Four all-rounders have been included in India’s squad: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. Out of these players, three are confirmed to play. Sundar will only get a chance in the playing-11 if any of the other three all-rounders are injured or out of form. Notably, Pandya, Dube and Axar will handle positions 5 to 7. And if Rinku plays, the batting depth will extend up to the number 8 position. Team India might also play with four all-rounders in some matches. In that condition, Sundar might get a chance instead of Rinku, so that the team has bowling options available along with batting depth. In this condition, with batting up to number 8, the team will also have 3 specialist bowlers. Among these, Axar and Hardik can also play the role of full-time bowlers. Spinners’ combination will be decided based on pitch conditions Team India will play its initial four matches in Mumbai, Delhi, Colombo, and Ahmedabad. Spinners do not get much help at Wankhede and Narendra Modi Stadiums; here, the team might play with only one specialist spinner. In that condition, only one of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy will get a chance. This is because the team already has a spinner option in all-rounder Axar. Varun and Kuldeep, both bowlers, have performed excellently in T20Is, but for the meantime now, Varun has been given priority in the playing-11. Meanwhile, spinners get help at Chepauk, Arun Jaitley, and Colombo stadiums. Here, both Kuldeep and Varun can be included in the playing-11. Especially for the match against Pakistan in Colombo, both Kuldeep and Varun can prove to be crucial. It’s difficult for all three pacers to play together Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana are the team’s three specialist pacers. Besides them, Hardik and Dube are pace bowling all-rounders. Considering the team combination, Bumrah and Pandya will be part of the pace bowling department in most matches. Meanwhile, Arshdeep might get a chance in place of Kuldeep at venues like Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Harshit will only be included if Bumrah and Arshdeep are injured or out of form. Possible Playing-11 Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav/Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah. Extras: Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar. World Cup from 7 February to 8 March The T20 World Cup will be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. 20 teams have been divided into 4 groups of 5 teams each. The top-2 teams from each group in the points table will enter the Super-8 stage. Here, too, four teams each will be divided into two groups. Among these, the top 2 teams from each group will get entry into the semifinals. The final will be played between the semifinal-winning teams on 8 March in Ahmedabad. If Pakistan makes it to the final, the title match will be held in Colombo.