5 reasons why India should have a specialist T20I side

While more and more countries are giving uncapped youngsters a chance and building a specialist T20I outfit, India have been strangely conservative in their selection process and not built a different team for the shortest format of the game.

This is disappointing because not too many youngsters who have been IPL stars have managed to break into the first team to play regular international cricket. But the time seems to be right to try them out because they might pay rich dividends in the long run.

Here are five reasons why India should have a specialist T20I side.

#1 Investing in youth

Investing in youth is a tried and tested formula when it comes to T20 cricket. Like most countries have a relatively young T20I side, India can boast of a more or less similar outfit that competes in ODIs.

The average age of most of the Indian stars by the 2019 World Cup will be above 30. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin will be above 30 while Dhoni will be close to 38.

Though there have been some notable exceptions, it is not a mistake to state that T20I is a format where the youngsters rule the roost because of the fast nature of the game. Keeping the future in mind, India should, therefore, give more youngsters a chance to start building an effective T20I outfit.

#2 Repeating the 2007 winning formula

The Indian team that lifted the World T20 in 2007 was largely unheralded

Back in the inaugural edition of the World T20 2007, India stunned the world by lifting the trophy when no one gave them the ghost of a chance. The senior team had been battered and bruised in the previous 50-overs World Cup and the team morale was on an all-time low.

The elder statesmen of the team had all opted out so that without the stellar names, the team was comprised of a pack of youngsters hungry to prove themselves. But that is exactly what proved to be the mantra of success.

The young team comprising the likes of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni played fearless cricket because they had nothing to lose. Which is why it is high time India tried to replicate the winning formula by investing in the youth again who can play a brand of fearless cricket.

#3 Finding power-hitters

Where is India's next big power hitter?

If you think back again to India’s win the 2007 World T20, what stood out then was the power-hitting of Yuvraj Singh. In two crucial knockout games against England and Australia, he single-handedly batted his team to victory.

Power-hitting is obviously the most crucial thing is T20 cricket which is why the West Indies have been so successful at this level. The Windies can boast of a team packed with power-hitters who can come in and start swinging straight away.

The problem with the Indian team right now is that apart from Hardik Pandya there is not a single batsman who is a hard-hitter or can play unorthodox cricket. This is why India must look for more all-rounders like Pandya who can clear the boundaries with confidence.

#4 Managing the extra workload

Virat Kolhi and other senior members of the Indian team have been on a constant grind

With the amount of international cricket being played nowadays, managing the workload is the biggest challenge that players face today. It is true that players today are fitter and hungrier than ever before but that does not take away the pressure that their bodies have to take in.

One successful mantra to manage the workload is of course to use a rotational policy where players get rested. In a long season, a long-term injury to one of the star players – as what happened to Rohit Sharma last year – can be too costly for a team.

The problem with going in with the same team for every format of the game is that it kills the possibility of rotation. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and now Hardik Pandya play in all three formats for India.

With so much of cricket being played, when the same players feature in T20Is after a long series, there is often an unmistakable tendency to take the format too lightly and not give it the seriousness it deserves.

This becomes a problem because though very T20Is are played in a bilateral series, each of these are the part of a process towards building a team for an ICC T20I event. It therefore becomes imperative that the rotation policy is adopted and more T20I specialists are nurtured.

#5 No shortage of talent

Kuldeep Yadav

When one looks at India’s selection process, you have to really wonder why more T20I specialists have not been nurtured because there is no dearth of real talent. If teams like the West Indies, England and South Africa can do it, it’s high time India should follow their example.

One of the main aims of the IPL was to give young uncut diamonds the necessary exposure and nurture them for international cricket. Even after so many successful editions of the tournament, it is strange that India is not digging deep into the cesspool of talent they already possess.

There is no shortage of IPL stars who deserve a chance to make their T20I debuts by now. The likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kulpeep Yadav have already done well in the limited chances they have got so far.

Washington Sundar who has been on fire in this edition of the TNPL definitely deserves a look in. Batsmen who have done well in the IPL and deserve a chance include the likes of Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana and Ishan Kishan.

The big-hitting prowess of Rahul Tripathi at the top of the order could be explored while the all-round abilities of Krunal Pandya deserve a look in. In the bowling department, the likes of Basil Thampi Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul definitely deserve a chance.