The core of India's World T20 squad is already ready, and if nothing much goes wrong, most of the players who are currently taking on South Africa will feature in a prominent role in the next year's big event as well. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma should open followed by Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. Although Dhoni has preferred Rayudu to Rahane in the series, it could just be an experiment. In the bowling Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma seem most likely to make the cut. A couple of places though still seem up for grabs.
As of now, the number seven slot is the biggest cause of worry for India. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja had been doing an acceptable job for the team, but he has run out of favour with the selectors, and understandably so as he hadn't done much good in any of the formats he represented the country in over the last year. Unless something changes drastically, there isn't a great possibility of Jadeja making a comeback. In his absence, India have given the spot to Axar Patel, who has similar skills. However, apart from the Zimbabwe series, he hasn't done a lot to gain confidence on the selectors or the fans.
If Patel doesn't measure up as the World Cup inches closer, India need to have an alternative ready. Stuart Binny is someone who can fit into that slot. Binny may not be a good bowler, but he is definitely a much better batting talent in comparison to Patel. India need to figure out their priorities, and lock in the candidates for the number seven slot accordingly. The other India have is to bat a pure batsman like Rayudu at number seven, and have four frontline bowlers do the job, along with Raina chipping in as the fifth bowler. But, that is a choice fraught with risk, particularly in a T20 game. Also, having a pure batsman coming in at number seven can amount to loss of resources.
India also need to figure out who will be their key bowlers apart from Ravichandran Ashwin. So far only the offie has done well-enough to secure his place in the T20 bowling line-up. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma will feature in the playing eleven in all probability, but they haven't been highly impressive in the games against South Africa. The disadvantage with having both Sharma and Kumar in the same line-up is there is a sameness about the bowling. India would be desperately hoping for Mohammad Shami to get fit before the World T20 so they can try him out. His presence and pace will give the bowling some much needed teeth.
The clash for the second spinner's slot is most likely to be between Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh. On current form, Mishra seems the better choice, but you can never predict what Dhoni has in mind. Harbhajan has lacked the bite in the matches he has played recently, and the only way he can get the nod ahead of Mishra is if his IPL success and experience is taken into consideration. At the same time, India must remember that Mishra was among India's best performers in last edition's T20. Last, but not the least, Dhoni himself has a crucial task. He will lead the sid for sure, but he needs to bring the sting back in his batting.
-- By A Cricket Analyst
