T20 World Cup 2022: Possible backups for Team India's 15-member squad

The T20 World Cup 2022 is just around the corner. A few days back, team India announced a strong 15-member squad as they bid to become the World T20 champions for the second time. The team sees ace pacers Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah returning to the Indian T20 setup after their respective injuries. Talking on the other side, injuries are a harsh reality of the game and the Indian camp needs to be ready with reinforcements for each of the 15 players. Let us look at the- Probable backups for every player in India's squad 1. Shubman Gill for Rohit Sharma Shubman Gill has been a run-bank with the bat and has shown his batting prowess at the bigger stages. The 23-year-old is one of the most promising cricketers in the Indian circuit and could be an ideal backup for Rohit Sharma. Gill has been a consistent performer in the IPL and has scored 1900 runs in 74 games at a strike rate of 125.25. In the previous season, he was instrumental in his franchise-Gujrat Titans' title victory by providing solid starts regularly. The dashing opener has carried on the good work for the national side as well. The Punjab-born has amassed 499 runs in nine ODIs at an average of 71.29. Gill was the Player of the Series in the last two ODI assignments of the Men in Blue for his dominant show with the bat. He, like Rohit, has all the shots in the book and can give India a brisk start. 2. Ruturaj Gaikwad for KL Rahul Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a proven performer in the white-ball circuit and can fill in for KL Rahul. The Maharashtra-batter has been stellar with the bat in the domestic circuit and this fetched him an IPL gig. The 25-year-old carried his form in the lucrative T20 tournament and has been a prolific run-getter for the Chennai Super Kings. He has aggregated 1207 runs in 36 games at a strike rate of 123.85. The ace opening batter was the highest run-getter in the 2021 season of IPL and played a crucial role in CSK’s title run. Gaikwad in his IPL career has shown that he can take even the best of the bowling attacks to the cleaners. In Rahul’s absence, he could be the one who could give the team a solid platform for the stroke makers to explode. 3. Shreyas Iyer for Virat Kohli When there are talks about who could fill the Virat Kohli void at No.3, there can not be a better option than Shreyas Iyer. The 27-year-old batter has been the go-to man for the Men in Blue when the Indian former captain has been unavailable. Shreyas performed exceptionally well in the shortest format. In 46 T20Is, the Mumbai batter has piled up 1029 runs at a strike rate of 136.65. He can hold the innings together and his presence gives the stroke-makers freedom to take the bowling apart. The middle-order batter has been amongst the runs in IPL as well. In the last season, Shreyas scored 401 runs at a strike rate of 134.56. He has been an ever-improving cricketer and has added a lot of shots to his repertoire to aid the aggressive side of his game. 4. Rahul Tripathi for Suryakumar Yadav Suryakumar Yadav has been India’s flamboyant stroke maker who can dominate the middle-overs with the bat. In his absence, the Men in blue can look at Rahul Tripathi to slot in the middle order. Tripathi’s stocks have risen tremendously in the T20 circuit in the last couple of years. Talking about the last IPL, the 31-year-old bashed 413 runs at 158.24 for his new-franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Ranchi-born has shown at the bigger stages that he can go all guns blazing from ball one. He has been around the national side for the last couple of tours recently and can be given a go in Suryakumar’s absence. 5. Nitish Rana for Deepak Hooda Deepak Hooda has been a utility player for India, someone who can adapt to various roles and gives a handy option with the bat. Nitish Rana could fill the batting all-rounder slot in Hooda’s absence. Rana has been an important member of his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders in the last couple of years. He has been scoring 350+ in the last three seasons of the Indian Premier League and that too at an average strike rate of 134.79. The southpaw has been a spin basher for his side and can float up and down the order based on matchups. The 28-year-old is more than handy with the bowl and can sneak in crucial overs for the side. 6. Sanju Samson for Rishabh Pant Sanju Samson has shown his batting brilliance in the IPL and also the international arena. The swashbuckling cricketer is a game-changer with the bat and can be the perfect backup for Rishabh Pant. The 27-year-old has been a key figure in the Rajsthan Royals batting-line up. In the recently culminated IPL, the RR skipper amassed 458 runs at a staggering strike rate of 146.79 in 17 matches and played a crucial role in Rajasthan reaching the Finals. Samson has had a decent outing for the Men in Blue in the shortest format and was also in the reckoning for a ticket to Australia. In 16 T20Is, the Kerela batter has scored 296 runs at a strike rate of 135.16. Generally a top-order batter, the ace wicketkeeper has shown his versatility to move down the batting order as well adding to India’s options. 7. Ishan Kishan for Dinesh Karthik Ishan Kishan has been a constant feature in India’s T20I setup. The wicketkeeper-batter has performed exceptionally well for the Men in Blue and can fit into the squad in Dinesh Karthik’s absence. Kishan represented India in 19 games in the shortest format and aggregated 543 runs at a strike rate of 131.16. In midst of his prolific run, the 24-year-old was also the top-ranked Indian batter in T20Is. The swashbuckling batter is known for his fearless brand of cricket and can dismantle any bowling attack with his stroke play. With experience, Kishan has learned the art of playing the situation and has shown that he can drop anchor as well if need be. This was seen during his IPL-stint for Mumbai Indians this year where he held the struggling batting lineup together and scored 418 runs at a steady pace of 120.11. 8. Venkatesh Iyer for Hardik Pandya Venkatesh Iyer broke into the Indian team on the back of stellar performances in IPL 2021. In the outstanding campaign, he amassed 370 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 128.47 for Kolkata Knight Riders and also took three crucial wickets. The 27-year-old is a seam bowling all-rounder and the team management looked at him as a backup for Hardik Pandya. Venkatesh, who opened the innings for his IPL franchise, was asked to bat in the lower-middle order for the Men in Blue and he did decently in that role. The batting all-rounder featured in nine T20Is and bashed at a strike rate of 162.19. Hardik performing incredibly well kept Venkatesh out of the reckoning for the marquee T20 tournament. The Indore-born could be slotted in the squad in the veteran all-rounder's absence. 9. Washington Sundar for Ravichandran Ashwin Washington Sundar has been one of India’s top all-rounders in white-ball cricket. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old has been plagued by injuries more often than not keeping him sidelined from the Indian squad. The bowling all-rounder has shown his mettle on the international circuit and could be an ideal backup for Ravichandran Ashwin in the Indian World Cup squad. Sundar, in 31 T20Is for the Men in Blue, has taken 25 wickets at an economy of 7.25 and has played handy cameos for the side. Sundar has been quite impeccable with his lines and lengths and gives skipper Rohit a genuine option with the new ball. The ace-all-rounder batting has seen an upsurge of late. IPL 2022 can be a great example which saw him play as a finisher for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and he scored runs at a strike rate of 146.38. 10. Ravi Bishnoi for Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal has been the wrecker in chief for India in the middle phases of the game. In his absence, the Men in blue need a spinner who is a genuine wicket-taker. This is where Ravi Bishnoi comes into the picture. Bishnoi is an attacking bowler and has proven to be tough to tackle with subtle changes of pace and variations. The 22-year-old performed incredibly well in the Indian Premier League and received an international call-up as a reward. The Googly bowler in total has taken 37 wickets in as many matches in the IPL. Bishnoi has carried on the good work with the bowl for India and has taken 16 wickets in 10 T20Is at an economy of 7.09. He is not afraid to pitch the ball up in search of wickets and his style of bowling will be suited for the big grounds of Australia. 11. Krunal Pandya for Axar Patel Krunal Pandya has been part of team India’s white-ball plans until last year and could make a case for himself when Axar Patel is unavailable. The 31-year-old has been a proven performer in the shortest format of the game and has numbers to back them. In the 19 T20Is Krunal featured for India, he scored 124 runs at a decent strike rate of 130.52 and took 15 wickets at an economy of 8.1. Being a left-handed spin all-rounder, the Ahmedabad-born is a like-for-like replacement for Axar. Krunal had a decent IPL 2022 campaign with the Lucknow Super Giants scoring 183 runs at a strike rate of 126.21 and picking 10 wickets at an impressive economy of 6.97. The batting all-rounder adds versatility with the bat as he can be used as a floater and can be brought in case of a favourable matchup. 12. Mohammed Shami for Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Shami arguably is one of the best seam bowlers in the Indian circuit at the moment. The 32-year-old has been carrying the mantle of the Indian bowling attack along with Jasprit Bumrah in Tests and 50-overs cricket. Though the Bengal-born has not been in the scheme of things in the T20Is since the last T20 World Cup debacle, Shami has shown that he still has the goods to deliver in the shortest format. He had a stellar IPL campaign for the Gujrat Titans this year where he took 20 wickets in 16 matches at an economy of 8. The speedster was the main strike force for Gujrat and played a crucial role in the franchise’s title victory. The veteran pacer has been India’s leader of the pace attack and in Bumrah’s absence, Shami is the right fit to fill his shoes. 13. Deepak Chahar for Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been India’s tone-setter with the new ball, bamboozling batters with his swing. In his absence, the Men in Blue need someone of a similar talent who can take wickets with the new ball. This is where Deepak Chahar comes into the mix. In IPL, the 30-year-old has been CSK’s main weapon with the ball upfront. In total, Deepak has taken 59 wickets in 63 matches at an economy of 7.8, and 42 of those have been in the powerplay. The swing bowler has shown his skills in the international circuit as well. In 21 T20I matches for India, Deepak has taken 26 wickets at an economy of 8.2. The Agra-born, given his credentials, is an awesome backup for Bhuvneshwar. Also, the bowling all-rounder is quite useful with the bat which is a bonus. 14. Shardul Thakur for Harshal Patel Harshal Patel is a vital cog in the Men in Blue T20 setup. He bowls crucial overs for the team and can play effective cameos lower down the order. When the 31-year-old is unavailable, the Indian camp can look at Shardul Thakur to fill the void. Shardul has shown his worth at the bigger stages be it with the ball or bat. In the recently concluded IPL, the bowling all-rounder took 15 wickets in 14 matches for the Delhi Capitals and also smashed 120 runs at a strike rate of 137.93. The Palghar-born has done a great job for the national side too. In 25 T20Is, Shardul has taken 33 wickets and strikes at an incredible rate of 181.58. His all-round prowess makes him a great addition to the Indian squad. 15. Avesh Khan for Arshdeep Singh Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan were battling it out for the fourth seamer spot for the upcoming World Cup and it was the left-arm pacer who pipped the latter. When the Punjab pacer is absent due to some reason, Avesh can be the right player to fill that void. The 25-year-old has shown his expertise to bowl at different phases of the game and provide crucial breakthroughs for his side. In the last two seasons of IPL, he has been at his best taking 42 wickets in 29 games at an economy of 8.05 which is phenomenal, considering he bowls a lot at the death. Avesh has also represented India in 15 T20Is and has taken 13 wickets. The Indore-born is a typical T20 bowler with a lot of variations in his arsenal and can be a great backup for Arshdeep.

T20 World Cup 2022: Possible backups for Team India's 15-member squad

Injuries are a harsh reality of the game and the Indian camp needs to be ready with reinforcements for all 15 players.

11. Krunal Pandya for Axar Patel