Five Indians stars from the 2016 T20 World Cup who might not feature in 2021
The 2021 T20I World Cup is the major talking point in international cricket this year and all teams are strategizing for the event. It will be held in India and is scheduled to start in October. The last edition of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup was held in 2016 and well, even that took place in India.
India played decently and made it to the semi-final before losing to eventual champions, West Indies. Obviously, not all the 15 players who were a part of that squad will be a part of the squad for the upcoming event.
Here’s a look at 5 India stars who won’t be participating in 2021:
1. Ravi Ashwin
Ravi Ashwin will go down as one of India’s greatest bowlers in the Test format, but the same can’t be said about T20Is, especially after Virat Kohli’s recent comments regarding his future. When Kohli was asked about Ashwin’s chances of a comeback, he pretty much ruled it out saying that they already had a similar player in the form of Washington Sundar, who has been performing well for the team.
Ashwin was dropped in 2017 in favour of a more attacking combination including Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. He picked up four wickets in five games during the 2016 T20I World Cup, and as things stand his chances of making the squad look quite slim.
2. Ajinkya Rahane
Like Ashwin, even Ajinkya Rahane has been shoe-horned as a Test match specialist and hasn’t played in the shorter versions of the game since 2018. His performances in the IPL haven’t been as good as they used to be and with the emergence of others like KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, his chances have taken a hit.
He last played a T20I for India in 2016. The Delhi Capitals batsman doesn’t have a guaranteed place in the starting XI for his current team, which is obviously not going to do him much favour. In 20 T20Is, he has scored just 375 runs at an average of 20.83 at a strike rate of 113.29. His only 50+ score came in his debut game against England.
3. MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni’s run out against New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup was a heartbreaking moment for Indian cricket fans and little did we know that it was also the last time he would step out in national colours. He announced his retirement from international cricket last year and will thus, not be a part of the upcoming tournament.
4. Yuvraj Singh
One of India’s greatest limited-overs players, without a doubt, Yuvraj Singh has played an instrumental role in India’s cricketing history. He played a massive role in both the T20I and ODI World Cups that India have lifted in recent years. But he had a rather poor time in the 2016 T20I WC as he scored just 52 runs in four games at a strike rate of just 100, and picked up one wicket. He was ruled out of the semi-final due to injury and was replaced by Manish Pandey.
Yuvraj was dropped from the team in 2017 before he announced his retirement in 2019. The 39-year-old is currently playing the Road Safety World Series and has been in pretty good form for India Legends.
5. Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra is the 11th highest wicket-taker for India in the 50-overs format, having picked up 157 wickets in 120 matches. His ability to swing the ball at a decent pace helped him survive for a pretty long period of time as was on the international scene for 18 years. Nehra retired after playing his farewell game on November 1st, 2017 against New Zealand.
The 41-year-old was in good form during the 2016 World Cup when he picked up five wickets in as many games at a strike rate of 22.8 and his economy rate of 5.94 was outstanding. At present, Nehra can be seen as a commentator and pundit, and we will most likely see him during the upcoming edition of the IPL.
