2022 has been a year of change in Indian cricket in a true sense. The year got off to a tense start when an off-field skirmish (read Kohli-Ganguly showdown) towards the end of 2021 marked the end of Virat Kohli’s reign as India’s limited overs captain. He had previously relinquished the captaincy in T20Is, but the promotion of Rohit Sharma as South Africa’s ODI captain came as a shock to India’s leading batsman, who was also looking to get back into top form. As luck would have it, Rohit fell out of the South African series through injury and Kohli’s Test team lost the series despite taking the lead. It was the final blow as Kohli also pulled down the curtain on his Test captaincy. It was an era where India really played to win and won much more than ever before in all formats. But an ICC trophy had eluded them.
This put the Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma duo in charge of proceedings and for a man who had won five IPL titles, the ICC T20 World Cup was waiting to be picked up. But things were not going to be that easy for Rohit and even the most ardent Indian cricket fans knew that the team was far from the top contenders.
After a pair of bilateral home series, which India duly won, the cricketing juggernaut arrived at the IPL. It was to become the premier tournament for those who wanted to make the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup and many staked their claim with remarkable performances. But none made more of an impression than a player who was almost written off a few months ago.
Hardik Pandya rose like a phoenix from the ashes and took his new team Gujarat Titans on the ride. As a captain he was a mix of Dhoni and Kohli and as an all-rounder he was a cricketer reborn. An all round Hardik well supported by a mix of young and old stars ended the dominance between Mumbai and Chennai as the Titans won the IPL.
Pandya’s return meant India had more options available and they tested them over the coming months as the captaincy changed hands like a banknote. Rohit Sharma was well equipped for the big tournaments, as was Virat Kohli, who had now fallen into an abyss of bad form, which many began to believe he would find difficult to get out of.
After a tame end to their Asia Cup campaign, India also failed to win the T20 World Cup, losing to England in the semi-finals. The defeat was so overwhelming that it left Rohit in tears and gave the Indian cricket faithful a clear picture of what was wrong with the Indian team.
India played antiquated cricket in T20Is, and this hasn’t changed since another semi-final loss in the T20 World Cup 2016. The only good thing to come out of both tournaments was the return of world-class batsman Virat Kohli.
But how would this be resolved? Who had the answers? Could the selectors handle the brave calls and the blood of youngsters who could play cricket fearlessly?
The answers came through when the Indian team for the Sri Lanka series was announced. Rohit Sharma may have missed the T20Is due to injury and news may be circulating that Virat Kohli has asked for a rest, but it looks like it’s on the wall.
Hardik Pandya has been appointed captain for the T20I series and it could well be a pattern in a year when India will focus more on ODIs due to the World Cup at home. As a matter of fact, Hardik is also the vice-captain in ODIs for the Sri Lanka series.
There is no KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant in the T20I team, something that ideally should have happened before the T20 World Cup. But the good thing is that it happened.
Suryakumar Yadav is the vice-captain in T20Is, and rightfully so, and should now be an indispensable part of the ODI team with someone like Shubman Gill. Yes, Gill is vouching for the ODIs as a cost to Shikhar Dhawan and it could very well spell the end of the road for the veteran Delhi batsman.
The pace department has several new faces and it will be interesting to see who all get opportunities and how well they use them.
The team selection of the Sri Lanka series was the last assignment of the outgoing selection committee and it seems they saved their best for last.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik , Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.
India’s squad for ODIs in Sri Lanka:Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Week), Ishan Kishan (Week), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
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