Top stars Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the five Twenty20s against the West Indies, while senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made a return to the shorter format, having played his last T20 in November last year. From the Indian squad that beat England in the recent Twenty20 assignment away from home, pace sensation Umran Malik was dropped, just days after skipper Rohit Sharma said the youngster remains 'very much' in India's plans in the run-up to this year's World T20 in Australia.
As former batter Aakash Chopra tweeted about Umran's ouster, fans were quick to link it with Rohit's recent remarks about the tearaway quick from Jammu. "Umran Malik isn’t there in any of the two squads. ODI and T20i. I’m pretty sure that he’s been spoken to already…because it’ll be all about nurturing his talent going forward," wrote Chopra.
Malik, who was expensive in his chances against Ireland and England, remains a work in progress despite rattling top batters in the recent IPL season. His pace made waves during the tournament, leading to him getting selected for the Indian team that played the subsequent five-match Twenty20 series against South Africa.
{{/usCountry}}Malik, who was expensive in his chances against Ireland and England, remains a work in progress despite rattling top batters in the recent IPL season. His pace made waves during the tournament, leading to him getting selected for the Indian team that played the subsequent five-match Twenty20 series against South Africa.
{{/usCountry}}As Malik travelled with the team for his second T20 series, Rohit said the 22-year-old is in India's plans heading into the World T20 later this year.
“He is very much in our plans, it is just trying to give him that understanding as to what the team requires from him as well. Yes, there will be times where we want to try out a few guys and Umran is definitely one of those guys, keeping one eye on the World Cup, we want to see what he has to offer for us,” Rohit had told reporters before the first Twenty20 in Southampton.
While Umran missed out on the overseas tour, Arshdeep Singh, who was not part of the full-strength squad against England in the final two T20s, was back in the mix. KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav were also picked in the 18-member squad subject to fitness.
Fans also questioned Sanju Samson's absence from the shortest format. He was dropped after he had played just one T20I against Ireland and had registered his highest score for India (77). The India think-tank preferred to stick with in-form Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Iyer.
The first Twenty20 will be played in Trinidad on July 29, followed by a couple of games in St Kitts before the action moves to the US. The remaining two games are set to be held in Lauderhill, Florida.