Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has made himself available for the tournament but could be rested for the opening Test against West Indies in early October. After a stellar Test series against England, Shubman Gill is set to face competition from Axar Patel for the vice-captaincy of India’s Asia Cup T20 squad in the UAE next month.The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is expected to name the squad on August 19 or 20, once the CoE Sports Science team submits the medical report of all players, including skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who has resumed batting in Bengaluru.While selectors may face some tough calls, continuity is likely to remain the guiding principle, a formula that has worked since Suryakumar took charge of the T20 side. Axar Patel was India’s vice-captain in the home series against England, while Gill held the role when Suryakumar was first appointed full-time T20 skipper during the tour of Sri Lanka last year.
It is understood that the selection committee won’t be too keen to tinker with the set-up as Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya form a solid top five. “Abhishek Sharma is the world’s No. 1 T20 batter in the last ICC rankings. Sanju Samson has been fantastic last season with both bat and gloves. So it will certainly be a tough call, but Shubman in current form (although in Tests) can’t be ignored. He had a good IPL also. The problem for selectors is, there are too many performers at the top of the order,” a BCCI source privy to developments told PTI.With so many players in the top order, it would be very difficult to find a slot for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan. Even KL Rahul, who is now the first-choice keeper in ODIs, is unlikely to be considered as he doesn’t bat in the middle-order.Second keeper’s slotWhile Samson is all but certain to be the first keeper, the choice for the second keeper’s slot will be between Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel. While Jurel was a part of the last T20 series, Jitesh had been impressive for RCB during their IPL-winning campaign. He has also revelled in the role of a finisher.Nitish Kumar Reddy is unlikely to be fit in timeWhile Hardik Pandya remains India’s first choice white ball seam bowling all-rounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who suffered an injury during the England series, is unlikely to get fit in time. Shivam Dube, who made a good comeback against England, is likely to find his place in the squad.Axar and Washington Sundar are set to be the other two spin-bowling all-rounders in the squad.Who will be the third seamer, Prasidh Krishna or Harshit Rana?The main bone of contention will be the seam-bowling attack, where Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh have locked their slots. The third slot is a fight between Prasidh Krishna, who has 25 wickets in the last IPL, and the burly Harshit Rana, who can bowl some heavy deliveries.(With PTI inputs)
