Batting depth and multiple bowling options: this has become the key to success in T20 cricket. Gautam Gambhir had used the same model for the Kolkata Knight Riders, and after taking over as India’s head coach in July, he’s applied the same for the Men in Blue.
Gambhir’s record speaks for itself. Team India has played 15 T20Is under him and lost just 2. However, this often means frontline players don’t make the cut. Shivam Dube’s selection in India’s squad for the Asia Cup baffled some, but his part-time pace bowling was the reason behind it.
This begs the question: would Team India field both Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav? Since Suryakumar Yadav and Gambhir have gotten together, they have played with 8 batters, including two or three all-rounders and three frontline bowlers.
Can Chakaravarthy & Kuldeep both play together?
The same is expected to happen in the Asia Cup. However, we can’t forget that Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh haven’t played together since Surya and Gambhir took over. In fact, Bumrah hasn’t even played a T20I since the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Bumrah’s the best bowler that Team India has. But Arshdeep is the highest wicket-taker in T20Is as well. Can they drop either? Let’s assume Arshdeep is dropped. In that case, Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep might both play. The same happened in India’s last T20I series against England, where Ravi Bishnoi played with Chakaravarthy as Kuldeep was injured.
In that 5-match series, only one frontline pacer played throughout. But Hardik Pandya will be India’s second pacer in that case. He can play that role, but if it doesn’t work, India won’t have any other pacers to fall back upon.
Now the second scenario is that Arshdeep and Bumrah both play. If that happens, only one of Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep might find a spot. That won’t be ideal. We all know how well both did in the Champions Trophy, which was also played in the UAE. But Kuldeep might be the one who misses out since Chakaravarthy is the better spinner at the moment.
If only one of Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep plays, then Axar Patel would be India’s second spinner. Suryakumar will have three part-time spinners to depend upon in Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh, alongside the services of Bumrah, Arshdeep, and Hardik.
India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Standby: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
