India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against England has been announced with some eye-catching selections. My fast bowler Mohammed Shami has finally made it to the national team after not playing international cricket for over a year.
However, there were some notable surprises in the squad as well. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, who are seen as the future of India's batting order, were not named in the squad.
Rishabh Pant was India's first-choice wicketkeeper in last year's T20 World Cup victory, while Yashasvi Jaiswal was in the squad as a back-up player behind Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill led the team in Suryakumar Yadav's absence against Zimbabwe. However, none of these players were considered for this series.
Read also: India T20I squad for England series announced, Mohammad Shami returns, Rishabh Pant dropped
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill dropped from India's T20I squad?
According to a report in TOI, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill were recently rested after a long and grueling Test series against Australia. All three batsmen were part of India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign.
While Jaiswal and Pant played all the Tests in the series, Gill played three Tests. Jaiswal even became India's highest run-scorer in his inaugural tour to Australia, but Gill and Pant were not up to the task.
These players might return to the Indian squad in the upcoming ODI series against England, which is also seen as preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy. As a result, these young batsmen have been rested by the selection committee considering their workload.
“(Rishabh) Pant, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and (Shubman) Gill have been rested from this series to allow them to fully recover from a grueling five-Test Border-Gavaskar series in Australia for the ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy in February,” a source was quoted as saying by TOI.
Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill's ODI numbers
All these players are very important for India in different formats and are seen as the future batting stars after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While Gill and Pant have already played a fair amount of ODI cricket, Jaiswal is yet to make a debut in the format.
Shubman Gill has an outstanding record as an opener in ODIs and has scored 2328 runs in the format at an average of 58.20 and a strike rate of 101.74. He is likely to partner captain Rohit Sharma in India's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh.
Rishabh Pant has been given numerous chances in ODIs but has not been at his best in the white ball format so far. The wicketkeeper-batsman has scored 871 runs in ODIs at an average of just 33.50, which is well below his world-class reputation. Whether or not he gets the Champions Trophy position remains to be seen.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is yet to make his ODI debut
Yashasvi Jaiswal has not made his ODI debut but could be part of India's Champions Trophy squad as the third opener. Jaiswal has outstanding numbers in Tests and T20Is and it is only a matter of time before he scores massively in the 50-over format as well.
Along with these players, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was also rested considering his heavy workload. Siraj played all five Tests in Australia. Jasprit Bumrah is also out as he continues to recover from the injury sustained during the Test series in Australia.