India's potential T20I line up going into the future

Middle order

Virat Kohli has been India's best batsman in this format in the last 1 year

The first name that comes into the Indian team across any format will be Virat Kohli. Kohli has been India’s best batsman for the last 3-4 years and in the last 1 year, he has mastered the art of performing consistently in the T20s.

He is one name who can open the innings for India in T20Is as he has done it past and produced a fine performance that saw him scoring more than 900 runs in the 2016 IPL. An opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will give nightmares to the opposition, but it will also make the Indian middle order weak, considering the fact that both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh might not find a place in the team in the future and MS Dhoni is not in his prime anymore.

So for the betterment of the Indian batting in T20s, Kohli batting at no.3 will be of more use than him opening the batting. This will help Kohli to capitalize on the start given by the openers and carry the innings forward and in the worst case scenario, repairing the innings and putting things back on track.

Manish Pandey has been very consistent with the bat in the recent past. It is almost certain that he will be an automatic choice in the Indian middle order in the limited over formats. Skipper MS Dhoni will occupy the number 5 spot as it is the position that fits him perfectly and allows him to play his natural game.

Manish Pandey has been consistent in the last few months

The number 6 position is something that will be a worry for the Indian T20 side going into the future. With the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, this spot remains vacant and there is no favourite for this position. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav will be competing for the remaining spot in the middle order.

Pandya was a part of the T20 team that played the World T20 in 2016 and was dropped from the team owing his poor form. With India likely to play their next T20I match against England in 2017, there is a lot of time for Pandya to get his rhythm and make a comeback into the team.

On the other hand, Sarfaraz Khan has shown glimpses of what he is capable of in the IPL and the two under 19 World Cups he played. But his skipper at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli dropped him from the team citing his physical abilities.

There were reports that Sarfaraz is taking it seriously and has lost some weight since the IPL got over. With the amount of time he has, the onus will be on him to redeem himself, become fitter and get called up to the national side.

Pandya and Sarfaraz coming into the T20I will surely bolster the India’s lower middle order, an area which has been a concern for a while. Having Pandya in the team gives the captain an extra option to bowl him if one of his bowlers go for runs.

Sarfaraz Khan is the right man for the no.6 spot

One more alternative for this will be making Rahane open the innings with Rohit, demote Rahul to no.4 and make Pandey and Dhoni bat at 5 and 6 respectively.

Middle order: Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya/Sarfaraz Khan