T20 World Cup 2024: Five India youngsters who are leading the race for spots in final squad

Captain Suryakumar Yadav led a young Team India to a 4-1 series victory over Australia in the recently-concluded five-match T20I series on home soil. With the likes of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not being part of the India squad that took on the Aussies, it provided the opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their true potential with the 2024 T20 World Cup set to take place in West Indies and USA in June.

India vs Australia: Five takeaways from T20I series

Some of these youngsters took that opportunity with open arms, making a case for their possible selection for the T20 World Cup, although it might be still early to say who is going to the Caribbean and USA and who is not.

With the T20I series against Australia done and dusted, we take a look at five youngsters who are leading the race to seal their spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad:

Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh is a player who needs no introduction. 2023 has been such a breakthrough year for Rinku Singh, so much so that the 26-year-old wouldn’t even have imagined to hot five sixes for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2023 and make his senior India debut in the same year.

In a way, since making his T20I debut in August, this was Rinku’s first major challenge in international cricket. He had faced Ireland in the T20I series in August and that was followed by a game against Nepal in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, but the series against Australia is what tested Rinku’s potential as a finisher.

It’s safe to say, Rinku passed that test with flying colours. In the first T20I, he was dealt with a situation of handling pressure after having lost wickets towards the fag end of India’s 209-run chase, but Rinku followed it up with a couple of more fine performances, an unbeaten 31 and a knock of 46 in Thiruvananthapuram and Raipur respectively.

Rinku Singh’s never-say-die approach in this series has only elevated his chances of making the India squad for the T20 World Cup, and more similar performances against South Africa in the upcoming series would only make his case stronger.

Ravi Bishnoi

For a long time, Ravi Bishnoi has been in a competition with Yuzvendra Chahal for a spot in the India playing XI for T20Is. Much recently, though, Chahal has gone down the pecking order with the team management going ahead with a more suitable young option in Bishnoi, who can take wickets at will.

India’s Ravi Bishnoi celebrates the dismissal of Australia’s Travis Head during the fifth T20 in Bengaluru. AP

If his performance in the T20Is against Australia is to go by, Bishnoi might have settled that debate once and for all. Bishnoi did begin the series with figures of 1/54 in Vizag, but would strike at regular intervals in matches that followed, more importantly, taking those wickets when it mattered the most.

Bishnoi finished the series as the top wicket-taker with nine scalps and would go onto win the Player of the Series award. With Chahal also not part of the South Africa T20Is, it only makes Bishnoi’s case much stronger.

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad has more or less sealed his spot as a potential opener in the future for India in T20Is. Although he began the series with a duck in Vizag, Gaikwad would go onto score a half-century, before taking Guwahati by storm with a 52-ball century in the third match.

Ruturaj Gaikwad finished as the top run-scorer of the India-Australia T20I series with 223 runs. AP

With 223 runs, Gaikwad ended the series as the top run-getter and his two knocks in the series will only give him more confidence going into the South Africa tour.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal may not have been able to convert starts into big knocks in the T20Is against Australia, but he still was at his explosive best throughout the series.

Jaiswal began with an eight-ball 21 in Vizag, before scoring a fifty in the second match. Jaiswal then would go onto score a 28-ball 37 and a 15-ball 21 in Raipur and Bengaluru respectively. Although he was unable to play the big knocks like he does in the IPL, Jaiswal gave his team the lift off that they required, building a couple of half-century stands with Gaikwad in the series.

His role being one of the explosive openers in the team is a big plus for the Men in Blue, and Jaiswal is that one batter who can do so fearlessly.

Arshdeep Singh

Statistically speaking, Arshdeep Singh may not have had an extraordinary series. Four wickets from three games is nothing extraordinary, but the way he dealt with pressure is what stood out for Arshdeep.

In the final over of the fifth match, specifically, Arshdeep was brought into the attack after having conceded 37 runs from his first three overs. Yet, he remained calm and composed as anyone should be in pressure situations and delivered the goods.

The 24-year-old had struggled with line and length across his three matches, and his first ball of the 20^th over in the fifth T20I could have been a wide as well. However, Arshdeep switched his technique. He bowled a yorker on off stump to Wade in the second ball , beating the Aussie skipper properly.

The game-changing moment came in the next ball when Arshdeep bowled another yorker, this time making Wade play for it only to not get the elevation he needed before holing out to Shreyas Iyer at long-on.

Ever since Wade was dismissed, the game was in India’s hands and it was just a matter of time before the Men in Blue had the last laugh.