20-20 World Cup 2022: 5 Players who were unlucky to miss out on the squad

The Indian Cricket Board announced India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming 20-20 World Cup to be held in Australia this year. The announcement also introduced four players who will be kept on standby for when a player in the squad gets injured.

There were many who were lucky to be in the team. Ravi Ashwin for example has made his comeback after eight months and although he did not feature much in the Asia Cup, he was still chosen in the squad for the 20-20 World Cup.

There are many however who are not as lucky as these 19 cricketers. Let’s look at five players who were unlucky to miss out from India’s 20-20 squad for the World Cup.

Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan (Image source: Twitter)

Ishan Kishan was the costliest player in the last edition Indian T20 League when the Mumbai team bought his services for Rs 15 Crore. He however could not justify his price tag as he failed to take his team into the next stage.

The left-handed opener was then included in the Indian side and came up with some good performances primarily against South Africa in the five-match T20I series where he hit scores of 76, 54, 34 and 27 in four matches. Although his form plummeted in the matches that followed, he would be disappointed with the cold shoulder from the management.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav (Image source: Twitter)

Probably the unluckiest on this list, Kuldeep Yadav was a mainstay in India’s white-ball team a few years ago. His flighted deliveries are some of the best in business, using which he has taken many wickets, but frequent injuries have derailed his career.

The left-arm orthodox spinner however has gotten back to full fitness and was ready for first-team opportunities; opportunities that now have been denied. The 27-year-old has insane stats to back up his claim to a berth in the team sheet. In 25 matches he has played for the national side, he has taken 43 wickets. In this year’s edition of the Indian T20 League, he was sensational with the ball as he took 21 wickets in just 14 matches.

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan (image source: Twitter)

Shikhar Dhawan has been ousted from India’s 20-20 vision for his apparent knack for playing slow. The left-handed batter however has an insane record in the Indian T20 League. In the 206 matches he has played so far, the southpaw has made 6244 runs and is only behind Virat Kohli. He has a similar strike rate (126 vs 129) and similar average (35 vs 36) as Kohli. Dhawan also has more half-centuries (47 vs 44) than Kohli in less number of games (206 vs 223), which makes his continued disregard all the more unfair.

Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia (Image source: Twitter)

Rahul Tewatia took the Indian T20 League by storm when he hit 53 off of 31 in the 2020 edition to clinch a win from the jaws of defeat against Punjab. In the same year, he hit 45* off of 28 to Hyderabad to take his Rajasthan team to a win. In 2022 he played a knock of 40* off 24 to take his Gujarat team home against Lucknow.

In the same year, the southpaw wrote his name in cricketing folklore when he hit two sixes off the last two balls to clinch a sensational win for the Gujarat team. Everyone thought he would be included in India’s squad for the X factor that he brings in but all hopes were shattered with the announcement of the squad on Monday.

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson (Image source: Twitter)

Sanju Samson has been playing in the Indian T20 League since 2013 and has even captained Rajasthan for a long time. He has amassed 3526 runs at a strike rate of 135 and hit three centuries. The right-hand opener however still continues to miss out on a name on the national side’s teamsheet.

In the few matches that he has been given a chance, Samson has also done well. For example, his last three innings score for the Indian team read 15, 30*, and 77. The 27-year-old has yet again been overlooked and would be gutted.