Alternate Indian cricket team ODI XI against West Indies

On Wednesday, news broke out that COVID-19 had begun ravaging the Indian cricket team camp. The Men In Blue are scheduled to participate in a three-match ODI series against the West Indies, which will be followed by a three-game T20I rubber against the same opposition.

So far, four Indian cricket team players (Navdeep Saini, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer) have tested positive. There have also been a few others (support staff mainly) who have returned positive tests, meaning that the Indian cricket team might have to contend with a COVID-19 outbreak at some point.

On Thursday, the Indian cricket team also canceled their practice session, casting further doubt over whether the 1st ODI, slated for 6th February, will go ahead. That, though, offers a bit of a silver lining to those with an inclination to pick fantasy teams.

A year ago, England found themselves in a similar situation. Most of their squad had tested positive and they had to forcefully field a highly-changed outfit against Pakistan. They still emerged victorious and proclaimed to the world how rich their white-ball stocks were.

The Indian cricket team isn’t very far behind on that front. If anything, they seem to have greater resources at their disposal, meaning that if they were pressed into choosing an entirely different XI for the series against the West Indies, they might do just fine.

The criteria for selection is pretty clear. Players who are currently nursing injuries and/or have been accorded a rest by the Indian cricket team have not been considered for selection. The likes of KL Rahul (who is missing the 1st ODI), Mayank Agarwal (who has been recently added), R Sai Kishore, Shahrukh Khan (standbys) and those part of the T20I squad haven’t been considered either.

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Alternative Indian cricket team XI

Openers – Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill

Shaw has the talent to be a world-class batter

Turn the clock back to 2018. The Indian U-19 side has rocked up in New Zealand and seem set to thwart whatever challenges lie ahead. Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, who have already been earmarked for greatness, are expected to be the Boys In Blue’s stars. They live up to that hype and the Indian cricket team wins the U-19 World Cup. The world is at Gill and Shaw’s feet, eh?

Four years on, neither has really lived up to that initial billing. Shaw blazed away to a century on Test debut but has fallen off a cliff since. Gill also impressed on his maiden Test tour Down Under, although he hasn’t been able to build on it.

From a pure statistical standpoint, there might be a few other openers (hello Devdutt Padikkal and Prashant Chopra) who have been more consistent than Gill and Shaw. Yet, it can’t be denied that Gill and Shaw have bags of talent, and if they can marry it with an end product, they could even walk into a first-choice Indian cricket team.

Their chemistry, especially after having played together and having won together, should hold the Indian cricket team in good stead too.

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Middle order – Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya (C)

Samson (R) has grown in stature lately

Well, this is where things get a little interesting. There are many cricketers who ply their trade in the middle order and would’ve expected to find themselves in this eleven. Eventually, though, Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson pip them because of the qualities they bring to the fore.

Samson is the only top-drawer keeper available for selection, making his inclusion a no-brainer. That he has also begun maturing as a batter, and seems to have developed significantly after being appointed Rajasthan Royals skipper, strengthens his addition.

Tripathi, on the other hand, is one of few Indian batters who can dominate against spin from the outset. He has made a habit of doing so for the Kolkata Knight Riders and with the Indian cricket team struggling for impetus through the middle overs, he could act as the perfect tonic.

There might be a school of thought saying that someone like Nitish Rana or Padikkal are higher in the pecking order, considering they featured against Sri Lanka in 2021. But Tripathi hasn’t been a bad domestic performer either. The telling bit is that he has done well in whatever role he has been asked to fulfill and provides more adaptability than the aforementioned.

As for Hardik Pandya, there is still no clarity on how many overs he can bowl for the Indian cricket team. He was, however, selected in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup as a pure batter.

He didn’t set the world alight but didn’t much wrong too, meaning that when a second (or even third) string of Indian batters are thrown into the mix, he comfortably comes out on top as a viable alternative. That there aren’t many who can take the game to the opposition like he does, makes him a shoo-in.

All-rounders – Vijay Shankar and Krishnappa Gowtham

Vijay Shankar has not played for India for a while

Before the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, Vijay Shankar was regarded as one of the Indian cricket team’s brightest talents. Hardik had already come through the ranks but Shankar was still being considered for selection, highlighting the faith the Indian cricket team had in his all-round abilities.

A couple of flippant “three-dimensional” comments, three injury-ridden IPL seasons and plenty of cricket later, he finally seems to be emerging as the cricketer many believed he could become. He has skippered Tamil Nadu to unparalleled heights in the current domestic campaign and seems to have evolved as a batter too.

Moreover, he continues to perform his duties with the ball and that, considering the lack of other bowling options in the top six, propels Shankar as a possible middle-order batter.

Gowtham, on the other hand, was part of the Indian cricket team squad that toured Sri Lanka in July 2021. He didn’t play much but whenever he was called upon, he gave a decent account of himself. He couldn’t make his mark in the 2021 edition of the IPL but with his skill-set (a bowler who can bat handily) not being ubiquitous, his inclusion isn’t a huge surprise.

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Bowlers – Chetan Sakariya, T Natarajan, Umran Malik and Varun Chakravarthy

Can Varun Chakravarthy make himself a permanent fixture in the Indian team?

On paper, this bowling attack seems as inexperienced as any the Indian cricket team would have ever put out. But these are extraordinary circumstances and some of these cricketers are extraordinary talents themselves.

Sakariya has burst onto the scene in the past couple of seasons, mainly by picking up crucial wickets for the Rajasthan Royals. He can swing the ball and can bowl at the death too, meaning that he covers two bases if selected for the Indian cricket team.

Similarly, T Natarajan boasts a unique left-armer’s angle. He is arguably India’s second-best death bowler too (after Jasprit Bumrah) and can nail yorkers with immaculate efficiency.

Varun’s story, meanwhile, is a little more fascinating. He was fast-tracked into the Indian cricket team squad for the T20 World Cup. He deserved it too, especially after a breakthrough IPL campaign. Unfortunately, though, he wasn’t handled properly during the global event and didn’t have enough runs to play with whenever he bowled.

His mystery remains indecipherable and with middle-overs wickets morphing into a monumental concern for the Indian cricket team, Varun ticks a few more boxes than the rest of his competitors.

As for Umran Malik, well, there is nothing quite like raw pace, to be honest. He sets the pulses racing and has made the Indian faithful’s adrenaline pump as fast as it has done in recent times (still not quicker than his bowling though).

He can leak runs at times and has only played a handful of IPL games in his career. So, there is risk involved.

But if he can land the ball in the right places, he can wreak havoc. Most international teams would also not have had time to understand how Umran operates, meaning that this gamble definitely seems worthwhile.