10 Active Indian cricketers who are not in contention for 2020 T20 World Cup squad

The ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is just 10 months away as all the teams would have kicked off their respective planning processes for the mega-event. For the first time in T20 World Cup history, Australia will host the event and given how all the teams are gearing up for the competition, it seems like the tournament would prove to be more intense than the World Cup 2019. Team India will be the focal point of this World Cup because despite being home to the grandest T20 league on the planet, the Men in Blue have not won the gold in the last 12 years. Their only title triumph happened when the IPL was not there. Hence, to prove the credibility of the Indian Premier League, the Indian team will have to pull off a strong performance Down Under. Captain Virat Kohli had mentioned a recent interview that 14 of the 15 players who will board the flight to Australia have been confirmed and here’s a list of the 10 active Indian cricketers who would not be a part of that squad. Mohammad Siraj Mohammed Siraj (Photo Source: Instagram) Billed to be the next big thing in Indian cricket, Mohammad Siraj has failed to live up to the expectations. Siraj made his T20I debut for India in 2017 but he could not cement his place in the Indian side. He played 3 matches for the national team and took 3 wickets while conceding runs at a hammering rate of 12.33. While the Indian Premier League has been a platform for the upcoming players to get their place in the Indian team back, Siraj’s disappointing performances for Royal Challengers Bangalore have not allowed him to do so. As the Indian team now has four premier fast bowlers in Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, it is unlikely that the selectors would include one more right-arm fast bowler in the team. Shardul Thakur Shardul Thakur. (Photo Source: Twitter) Talking about the right-arm fast bowlers of India, one more upcoming star had gained the spotlight with his domestic performances. His name is Shardul Thakur and he even impressed while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Shardul Thakur played his first T20 international game in February 2018. Since then he has played 7 matches, scalping 8 wickets at an economy rate of 8.80. While these numbers are decent, the fans should note that he had taken 4 wickets in one match. This means that he took only 4 wickets in the remaining 6 games while also leaking runs at an expensive economy rate. Thus, just like Mohammad Siraj, the chances that Thakur makes the cut to the Indian T20 team are negligible. Vijay Shankar Vijay Shankar (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images) The Indian team management had surprised everyone when they named Vijay Shankar in the 2019 World Cup squad. The fans felt that Ambati Rayudu deserved to be in the team ahead of Shankar but ultimately the all-rounder played at number 4 for India. His lacklustre performances and injury woes have led to his exit from the national team. Shankar had represented the nation in 9 T20 internationals. He could score only 101 runs at an average of 25.25 whereas his strike rate was under 140. Shifting our focus to his bowling performance now, India made little use of his right-arm medium pace but in the 6 innings he bowled, he scalped 5 wickets and, had an economy rate of 9.09. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube are the team’s top two all-rounders thus, Shankar would make it to the Indian T20 World Cup squad. Mayank Markande Mayank Markande. (Photo Source: Hotstar) The Punjab-born leg-spinner had become the centre of attraction during IPL 2018. He first gained the attention of the fans by dismissing MS Dhoni in the opening match and then he bowled an incredible spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad. His good performances earned him the national call-up soon and he made his T20I debut against Australia at Visakhapatnam. As his performance was not up to the mark, he was soon dropped from the T20I squad. Markande lost his touch in the IPL as well thus, Mumbai Indians traded him to the Delhi Capitals and then Delhi sent him to Rajasthan Royals. Given that India has a good bunch of spinners at the moment, Mayank would not play for India in the T20 World Cup. Ajinkya Rahane Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: Twitter) The former Indian T20I captain, Ajinkya Rahane has lost his place in the Indian T20I team because of his slow strike rate. The fans and the critics believe that Rahane is too slow to play for India in the shortest format of the game. His alternatives, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul play at a much better strike rate besides they can hit big shots as well. Thus, the team dropped Rahane and he has never returned to the T20I team since 2016. Talking about his individual numbers in T20 internationals, Rahane had played 20 matches for India, scoring 375 runs at an under-par average of 20.83. His strike rate was below 115 thus, there is no reason to keep him in the Indian T20I team. Axar Patel Axar Patel. (Photo Source: Twitter) Former Kings XI Punjab star, Axar Patel was deemed to be the next Ravindra Jadeja of Indian cricket. Hailing from Gujarat, the left-handed all-rounder had impressed with his all-round skills at the international level. The selectors even picked him in the ICC World Cup 2015 squad. However, his inconsistent performances led to Ravindra Jadeja’s comeback in the national team. Patel played 11 T20 internationals and took 9 wickets while having an economy rate of 6.79. The Indian team management wanted to have wicket-taking bowlers in the Indian side. Hence, they introduced the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the team. With Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja present in the T20I team, the chances of Axar’s return are very less. Dinesh Karthik Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter) There are three key reasons why Dinesh Karthik would not return to the Indian team even if he has his best IPL season in 2020. The first reason is that the team management is backing Rishabh Pant as their number one wicket-keeper batsman. Pant has been backed even though he has not played up to the mark in international matches. The second reason is the rise of Sanju Samson. The fans want the Kerala-based wicket-keeper in the team because of his recent form. And, the most important reason why Karthik will not tour with the team in Australia is the return of MS Dhoni. The fans and the selectors know that Dhoni is gearing up for a big return thus, as always, he would keep Karthik out of the team. Ravichandran Ashwin Ravichandran Ashwin (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) Ravichandran Ashwin was one of the spin bowlers who lost the faith of the selectors after the debut of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. As discussed ahead, the team wanted to have an attacking approach in T20Is thus, they dropped the finger spinners. Though the poor form of Chahal and Kuldeep has forced the team management to bring back finger spinners, they have opted to include Washington Sundar in the team ahead of Ashwin. This is a clear indication that the Tamil Nadu-based off-spinner, Ashwin is out of contention for the T20 World Cup. Although he is one of the leading wicket-takers for India in this format, he will not play the T20 World Cup. Kedar Jadhav Kedar Jadhav (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) Kedar Jadhav had become a big name in Indian cricket after he smashed a whirlwind century in an ODI match against England. His partnership with skipper Virat Kohli cemented his spot in the Indian team. The selectors picked him for the 2019 World Cup although he had a disastrous outing in IPL 2019. Jadhav could not impress at that mega-event and soon, he found himself out of the Indian team. The rumours were rife that Chennai Super Kings would release him soon but, they retained him. Besides, the selectors have surprisingly called him back for the ODI series against West Indies but since he has lost his ability to score runs quickly, the team management would not prefer to have him in the squad for the T20 World Cup. Suresh Raina Suresh Raina. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) While Yuvraj Singh has announced his retirement from international cricket, Suresh Raina still continues to be an active Indian player. The team management had dropped him from the team in 2018 yet he has not given up till now. The Uttar Pradesh born all-rounder had played a match-winning role for team India in the 2011 World Cup besides he has immense experience of playing in Australia. He had recently expressed his desire to play at number 4 for India. Though the Indian team does not have a solid middle-order batsman, the management has not considered calling Raina back to the team. He can be a valuable asset in the bowling and fielding departments as well however, just like Dinesh Karthik, it is unlikely that Raina would make it to the Indian side. Watch: Tabraiz Shamsi gives a flying kiss to his wife in MSL 2019

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