WI v India: From Pant to Iyer, the players to watch out for as T20 World Cup planning begins

India are all set to sport a new-look playing XI when they face West Indies in the first of three T20 Internationals in Florida on Saturday. The men in blue have retained just six players from the squad in their last T20 series, which was against Australia in February.

Virat Kohli and Co had lost both the matches in that series and along with the skipper, only Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya feature in this team.

Although it’s the shortest format of the game, the three T20Is against West Indies offer India the opportunity to begin a new chapter in white ball cricket. The disappointing exit from the 2019 ICC World Cup compelled the selectors to reshuffle and plan for the future, and there are several new faces to look forward to in the limited overs leg of the Caribbean tour.

As far as the T20Is are concerned, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar and Khaleel Ahmed are all making comebacks to international cricket. Deepak Chahar, who has played one T20I and One-Day International each, has also returned, while Rahul Chahar and Navdeep Saini are in line to make their debuts in one of the three matches.

India would want the entire squad to fire in unison and bring home the trophy but there are certain players whose performances will be crucial in the broader scheme of things. These are the players who have the potential to play both T20I and ODI cricket for several years to come and the management will be hoping they make a mark each time they step on the field.

Here’s a look at these five players:

Rishabh Pant

The series against West Indies marks the start of an important phase in Pant’s career. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni absent and likely to retire soon, this is the first time the 21-year-old will be keeping wickets in all three formats away from home. He recently said that he wants to try and play in accordance to match situations, which is precisely the level of maturity the team will expect from him going forward.

Pant was inarguably India’s most impressive top-order batsman in the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand. While his talent has never been in doubt, the left-hander will have to show more restraint from here on. His batting position and ability to win matches will be the focal points against West Indies. He isn’t the heir apparent anymore, this should be the start of his reign in limited overs as well.

Khaleel Ahmed

He narrowly missed out on a World Cup berth and will be eager to showcase his skills against the West Indies. Ahmed is the best left-arm seamer India have at the moment and is coming in with impressive form, having picked up 26 wickets from 14 one-dayers for India A over the past year.

In this year’s Indian Premier League too, the 21-year-old bagged 19 wickets from nine matches and showed what he’s capable of with the white ball. Ahmed doesn’t possess express pace but has the knack of getting breakthroughs with his cutters and slower balls. He can surely be an asset for India in the coming years due to the variety he brings to the attack.

Shreyas Iyer

Another player who fell just short of making it to the World Cup, Iyer has a lot to prove on the West Indies tour. His immense ability with the bat has been there for all to see ever since he had that dream debut season in first class cricket back in 2014-15 and his name often cropped up as India’s middle order struggled in England. But the 24-year-old has only himself to blame for not featuring consistently at the highest level.

Iyer scored 637 runs from 19 one-dayers for India A over the past year and 463 from 16 innings in IPL 2019. These aren’t bad numbers, but they aren’t earth-shattering either. He has been one of the eight captains in the IPL for two seasons now but is still the only one in that group who doesn’t play international cricket regularly. The selectors have shown faith in him by including him in both the T20I and the ODI squads for the West Indies tour. It’s up to him now to seal a spot in the middle order.

Navdeep Saini

In this year’s IPL, Saini bowled a bouncer that hit Shane Watson flush on the helmet. The veteran Australian batsman had little idea of what had happened and could simply offer a wry smile. Despite playing half his matches at the flat Chinnaswamy track, Saini bagged 11 wickets from 13 matches and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The 26-year-old right-arm pacer is one of the few bowlers in the world who can bowl consistently at over 145 kmph. He has the potential to do what Jofra Archer does so well for England – push batsmen on the back foot with raw pace. If he manages to maintain his fitness and not lose his head, Saini could be a solid option for India in the years to come.

Manish Pandey

Yes, he’s making yet another comeback. Pandey has played 23 ODIs and 28 T20Is for India but it still seems like he’s starting off his international career. While his inconsistency with the bat must take much of the blame for that, the 29-year-old has earned another call-up on the back of a good run over the past year.

The right-handed batsman scored 344 runs from 11 innings in IPL 2019 and an impressive 626 runs from his last 12 one-dayers for India A. His match-winning century against Australia in 2016 is still fresh in people’s memory and along with Iyer, his name came up each time India’s middle order crumbled at the World Cup. The West Indies tour is, perhaps, just the right opportunity for Pandey to seal a spot in the batting line-up.