It has turned out to be quite evident in recent times that Hardik Pandya has been suffering a severe dip in form ever since he returned from his back injury. As a result, the selectors have decided to drop him from the list of considerations as they start afresh for the New Zealand series. After a woeful outing in the recent T20 World Cup and the departure of Ravi Shastri, the new Indian management has their task cut out to them.
They have to formulate a new strategy with new players to ensure that there’s no repeat telecast of what happened in the last tournament. Rahul Dravid, the new coach, and Rohit Sharma, the new captain, have already started working on it. In the absence of players like Kohli, Bumrah, and Jadeja, who are rested for the series, the new management has decided to invest in the youth. Hence, Venkatesh Iyer, the freshly brewed allrounder who performed wonders both the bat in hand as well as the ball, has received his first callup. Along with him is the purple cap holder of the season, Harshal Patel. TOI has reported that with Hardik Pandya dropping from the merits of consideration, the Indian management has decided to hone the batting skills of those batters who can bowl in white-ball cricket. This is the main reason why Venkatesh Iyer has been considered ahead of Prithvi Shaw and Shubhman Gill. TOI also believes that Iyer (an opener) will be made to bat down the order, as there is ample competition in the top order for the opening position.
Some other significant switch-ups include the dropping of Chakravarthy, as he failed to live up to the hype created around him. Rahul Chahar faces a similar fate. Hence, to fill up the spot or take back his mantle of top fright spinner for India, Yuzvendra Chahal has been included in the squad for the series.
India takes on New Zealand in their first T20I fixture on the 17th of November. The two teams will be seen in action in 3 T20Is and 2 Tests as well.