5 Indian players with a point to prove in the Champions League T20

With the ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand not too far away, the Indian selectors would have already started turning their thoughts towards the 30 probables and, in turn, the 15-member squad for the tournament. The squad picked for the recently concluded ODI series in England gave us a fair idea of the players that are in contention for the World Cup. The players not in the mix in recent times, however, need not worry as they have a chance of impressing in the upcoming Champions League T20 and thereby staking claim for a spot in the World Cup squad.The CLT20 and the ODI World Cup are of course different formats, but there have been plenty of examples of Indian players impressing in tournaments like IPL and CLT20 and going on to earn a berth in the 50-over side.Here are 5 Indian players with a point to prove in the CLT20:

#1 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir made a comeback to the Indian team, during the recent 3-1 Test series loss to England, one and a half years after last playing for India in the home Test series against England in December 2012. But all the hard work Gambhir had done during his time out of the national team seemed to be of little use as his old deficiency of poking at the ball outside the off-stump resurfaced, and he ended up with returns of 25 runs from 2 Tests at a horrendous average of 6.25.

Gambhir’s Test series might have called time on his Test career, but he will still be determined to reclaim his spot in the ODI side and feature in next year’s World Cup. After all, it was Gambhir’s 97 in the final against Sri Lanka which went a long way to ensuring that India won their first World Cup in 28 years and helped Sachin Tendulkar achieve his dream of winning a World Cup before retiring.

The only way Gambhir, who will be captaining Kolkata Knight Riders in the CL T20, can do that is by scoring runs on a consistent basis in this tournament to begin with, which will not only assist KKR in their effort to win the tournament but also help Gambhir in achieving his aim of being part of the side that defends their World Cup title come next year.

#2 Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa had an excellent 2014 IPL season with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He scored 660 runs from 16 matches at an average of 44 and strike-rate of 137.78 and finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament, thereby helping KKR win the IPL crown. His sparkling form with the bat prompted the selectors to include him in the India squad for their ODI series against Bangladesh and for the A tour of Australia, but Uthappa hasn’t been able to capitalize on those opportunities. He scored just 134 runs from 7 matches at an average below 20 with a highest score of 46 and hadn’t too much better against Bangladesh earlier either, leading him to be ignored for the ODIs in England.

But, given the failures of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the last 6-8 months, Uthappa knows that an opening spot is very much up for grabs in the Indian ODI side. Provided Uthappa can find his form back and play as well as he did during the last IPL, he shouldn’t be too far off from getting another chance considering the fact that he is a tidy wicket-keeper and can deputize for Dhoni behind the stumps when required.

#3 Harbhajan Singh

R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been the incumbent spinners in the limited-overs side over the last 2-3 years and have done a very good job in that time. But with the World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand, where the two have struggled previously, Harbhajan’s experience might come in handy. Having said that, I reckon for Harbhajan to be seriously considered by the Indian selectors for the World Cup, he will have to count on more than just experience.

He has been with Mumbai Indians ever since the inaugural IPL season, and the franchise have retained faith in him even after he was discarded by India. He will be hoping to reward his franchise by delivering for them in the upcoming CL T20. He took just 14 wickets from 14 matches in last season’s IPL, albeit at a miserly economy rate of 6.47, and he will have to do a lot better than that if he harbours ambitions of establishing himself in the national team once again.

#4 Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag’s cricketing capabilities had been written off after being dropped from the Indian Test, ODI and T20 sides in quick succession, but Sehwag duly reminded one and all of what he was capable of by scoring 455 runs for Kings XI Punjab in the last IPL and finishing up one of the top 10 run-getters in the tournament.

If Sehwag can back up his successful IPL season with yet another good showing in the CLT20, a comeback to the Indian side for the 35-year old might still beckon. With the opening slots in the Indian side having not been cemented by any means, what should count in Sehwag’s favour, provided he can get his old touch back, is the fact that he has a proven track record in international cricket as opposed to his competitors.

#5 Ishwar Pandey

Ishwar Pandey, over the last one year, has featured regularly in Indian squads: he was a part of the touring party for the Test and ODI series in New Zealand, the Asia Cup and the 5-Test series in England. Pandey, though, is yet to get a chance in the playing XI, which perhaps indicates a lack of trust on his abilities from the team management.

Despite the fact that Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India’s first-choice bowlers, were suffering from injury and fatigue respectively, in India’s most recent Test series against England, Pandey failed to get a look-in for any of the five Tests ahead of other back-up seamers in Pankaj Singh and Varun Aaron.

Although Pandey has every right to feel dejected, also due to the fact that he has been one of the premier bowlers in domestic cricket of late, he can’t let his disappointments get the better of him. Especially with the CL T20 on the horizon, Pandey has a glorious opportunity of showing his critics that he has the requisite quality to play international cricket. What should provide him extra motivation, if he ever needed some, is the fact that Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who is also the captain of Chennai Super Kings, will continue to keep a close eye on the Madhya Pradesh seamer.