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With the expansion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to a 10-team competition in 2022, players have managed to get even more opportunities to prove themselves at that level and earn call-ups to the national side across formats.
India's current first-choice T20I side features players from several IPL franchises. Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya has been earmarked as the man to lead the Men in Blue in the 2024 T20 World Cup, while the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are known to produce players who go on to achieve great things at the international level.
At the same time, however, there are a few IPL franchises that aren't currently contributing directly to the national talent pool. Although they have a few players in the mix to be selected for Team India's T20I side, the first-choice combination might not feature these names.
Here are three IPL 2023 teams that might not have a single player in India's first-choice T20I side.
#3 SunRisers Hyderabad
Contenders: Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) didn't have a great time in IPL 2023. They finished dead last in the standings with only four wins from 14 games as their Indian players failed to deliver.
On paper, SRH have quite a few domestic superstars. Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, and Washington Sundar have been in and around the T20I side, while players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and Mayank Agarwal have represented the team previously.
As of now, though, Tripathi and Sundar have been picked in the somewhat second-string Asian Games squad, while Umran is being kept in the mix as the frontline pacers miss out on the action. All three are definitely in contention, but right now, they might not make it to India's first-choice squad.
#2 Kolkata Knight Riders
Contenders: Nitish Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed a few memorable victories in IPL 2023, but they didn't meet expectations on the whole. In the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Co. finished seventh to miss out on the playoffs.
Shreyas will probably be part of the national T20I squad when fit, but he's been dealing with a back injury that has kept him out for quite a while now. Moreover, there are concerns over his ability to take on pace and be an aggressive batter in the middle order.
Varun Chakaravarthy arguably merited a call-up to the Asian Games squad but he missed out, meaning that he currently isn't in contention to be part of the main side. Shardul Thakur has been in and around the team, but he definitely isn't guaranteed a spot.
Venkatesh Iyer and Rana have played a handful of games for India, but they too aren't first-choice players right now.
#1 Rajasthan Royals
Contenders: Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Perhaps the most surprising inclusion on this list, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) reached the final of the 2022 edition and started the 2023 season in a convincing fashion as well. However, their form tapered off as they narrowly failed to qualify for the playoffs.
RR captain Sanju Samson is one of the most exciting batters in the world, but he hasn't been able to establish himself as a regular member of the T20I side. Ravichandran Ashwin has been part of consecutive T20 World Cups, but he too seems to be out of the picture right now.
Yuzvendra Chahal is certainly in the conversation, but he has been leapfrogged by Kuldeep Yadav. Moreover, Ravi Bishnoi is hot on his heels. Finally, Yashasvi Jaiswal will definitely be part of the T20I side in the near future, but he hasn't made his debut in the format yet.
In an ideal world, Samson and Jaiswal should be part of India's first-choice T20I team in the coming months even if they aren't as of today. The selectors have been fickle, though, so you never know.
