Scott Styris names India squad for T20 World Cup; includes uncapped Shubman Gill
Scott Styris has named his probable India squad for the T20 World Cup wherein he went with the uncapped batsman Shubman Gill instead of Manish Pandey. Further, the all-rounder picked Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar in place of the experienced Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami in the squad.
With the T20 World Cup lurking at the horizon, the season of probable squads of top nations has arrived. Many former players and pundits are weighing in their views about the probable structure of the squads for the gala event and former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris, who now is a renowned commentator, shared his views on India’s potential 15 for the tournament.
Unlike some previous probable squads for India put forward by experts, the former Kiwi internationals 15 was a bag full of surprises. The most notable one of them being the inclusion of uncapped Shubman Gill at the expense of a seasoned campaigner like Manish Pandey. While Gill has proved his mettle in the domestic circuit and shows great potential for international cricket, the top-order batsman has been in some unwanted limelight lately.
He had an ugly fall out with the on-field umpire after he was given out in a Ranji Trophy game against Delhi at Mohali. His antics, in fact, forced the umpire to change his decision, which did not go down well with the Delhi players and the match was halted for about 15 minutes. Gill was docked 100% match fees for his conduct in that match.
Although the incident is disturbing, it is hard to ignore his impressive stint in the IPL where he has shown his capabilities with the limited opportunities that came his way at KKR scoring some quick-fire runs. The inclusion of Sanju Samson also raised some eyebrows given the fact that the Kerala batter hasn't featured in a T20I since his debut back in 2015. Samson has been warming the bench sp far for India in both the series against West Indies and Sri Lanka after being picked up in the squad.
The next in the line of surprises is the omission of veteran pacers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami to accommodate Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar alongside Jasprit Bumrah in the pace battery. Styris believes that it is the right time for India to include the duo, who could prove to be handful in the Australian conditions.