India vs Australia 2019: 3 reasons why Mayank Markande was included in the T20I squad

The Indian selectors announced the squads for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against Australia today. There were a lot of surprises in the T20I squad as young pacer Siddarth Kaul was called back after a long time while rookie leg spinner Mayank Markande received his first ever national call-up.

The Indian squad for the T20I series against Australia is as follows -

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul, Mayank Markande

The T20I series has only two T20Is, so it will be interesting to see whether Markande gets his India cap or not. However, here are the 3 possible reasons why he was surprisingly included in the:

#3 Markande's stupendous performances for Mumbai Indians and India 'A'

Markande even held the purple cap once, in the previous season of IPL

Markande burst into the spotlight with his marvelous performances in the initial stages of the Indian Premier League last year. The young leg-spinner stunned the cricket fans and pundits with his mesmerizing leg-spin performances against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

A superb showing in the IPL led to Markande being selected in the India 'A' team for the series against England Lions. And today, the 21-year-old's five wicket-haul helped the India 'A' team win the match by an innings against the England Lions.

Moreover, he was the leading wicket-taker for Punjab in his debut Ranji Trophy season in 2018-19.

Undoubtedly, the Indian selectors were impressed by this Punjabi leg-spinner's performances and thus, rewarded him with his first ever call-up to the national squad. It will be intriguing to see how he performs at the international level.

#2 To give some rest to Kuldeep Yadav

New Zealand v India - ODI Game 2

Kuldeep Yadav has been the top spinner of the Indian team ever since making his debut in international cricket. The Chinaman bowler's performances have helped India script several memorable victories at home as well as in overseas conditions.

However, Kuldeep has been playing cricket for quite a while now, and he needs some rest in order to maintain his physical fitness. The time off during the India vs Australia T20I series would allow Kuldeep to recover from any niggles that he might have picked up during the Australia and New Zealand tour.

Kuldeep will also be an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the 12th edition of IPL, and also for India in the ICC World Cup 2019. So the match-winner deserves some rest to concentrate on his fitness levels.

Moreover, given that it is only a 2-match T20I series, the risk of excluding Kuldeep is not that big.

#1 As a back-up option for the ICC World Cup 2019?

What if Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav get injured ahead of the 2019 World Cup?

We all know how much captain Virat Kohli loves to have leg spinners in his team and Markande, being a leg-spinner, will be a welcome addition to the squad. Given that there is always the possibility of Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal getting injured or being severely out of form ahead of the World Cup, Markande can be groomed as a back-up leg-spinner.

If Markande performs well in the T20I series, he will make a strong case for his selection in other formats as well. Another fact to be noted here is that right now, there are no back-up options for Chahal and Kuldeep.

Thus, including Markande in the T20I squad against Australia was a masterstroke by the Indian selectors.