Men In Blue Sans Gill, Jaiswal And Pant For Home T20 World Cup

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is all set to kick off at the Wankhede Stadium on February 7, with India — also known by the moniker Men in Blue — ready to lock horns with the USA. India led by Suryakumar Yadav should take the American team in its stride to start on a positive note. But it will be an Indian team without Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, the best opening pair with an average close to 60 per innings. Numbers speak aloud for itself, but these are times when the people who pick the team refuse to look at the reputation of players and look at the current form of the players and the impact they make in the allotted positions in the batting order. And because of this, one finds the selection committee and team management back the mighty and carefree hitter Abhay Sharma and Sanju Samson, who is far from in good nick. These two had triggered rip-roaring starts scattering the ball all over the park and sort of intimated assorted bowlers in the first 36 balls; their highest start has been a 73 against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. In comparison the highest by Gill and Jaiswal is 165 against the West Indies at Lauderhill three years ago. It’s a format one would have thought Rishabh Pant too would have been a perfect fit, but Gill, Jaiswal and Pant will not make headlines from February 7 onwards. Pant has scored 1209 runs off 950 balls batting at No.3, 4 and 5. The onus is now on Abhay Sharma and Sanju Samson — the Punjab Puttar and Malayali Magan — put the big runs on the board.