IND vs SA, 2nd T20I: As India win series after a slugfest, time to see who is ready or not for the World Cup – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

The India versus South Africa 2nd T20 International in Guwahati had it all for some of the Indian players. Suryakumar Yadav has made it a habit to churn out sensational knocks, while Virat Kohli looks like a million dollars and more as he has rediscovered his touch, as India pulled off a hard-earned and much-overdue T20I series win at home against South Africa in a slugfest at Guwahati.

But, with just above 20 days left to India’s opening encounter in the ICC T20 World Cup, it is surely time to look beyond these three-match bilateral series and take stock of how many of these players look a set for the big one. Don’t be too surprised though if the list isn’t too long.

In order to make this a little grammatical and dramatic, we’ve decided to divide the players into punctuation marks. Just to make it a little different.

The exclamation marks (those raring to go):

Virat Kohli: He is in it, heart and soul. The former India skipper looks light as a feather now, with all the mental pressures and the rest being consigned to the garbage can. Also, his stroke-making is looking all keyed into how to play important knocks on the bigger fields of Australia, a combination of a majority of ground shots and quick running between the wickets.

Suryakumar Yadav: What to say of SKY. He seems to discover new and more audacious shots in every game he plays, irrespective of who is bowling. Superfluous to say that he will be a key factor. However, some of his shots may still be a little dodgy Down Under, but we can’t really complain right now, can we?

Hardik Pandya: Pandya can turn matches alone and he looks the part whenever he is playing. Quite strange that he needs to go to the National Cricket Academy at such a late stage, but he is one who is keen as mustard for the World Cup. His bowling is hot and cold, but as a batter, he is on fire.

Dinesh Karthik: DK seems to have taken this last-over massacre role to heart. The man’s ability to put bat to ball with telling effect is something amazing really and while he juggles with catches and fumbles with run-outs, he does get the job done well enough to push his case in no uncertain terms.

Arshdeep Singh: It is remarkable how well the youngster has rallied from the disastrous dropped catch against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. The left-arm seamer seems to be learning with every match and invariably strike early with the new ball. However, he still needs to organise his second spell with the older ball, especially with those no-balls, but he definitely looks ready for the big scrum.

Axar Patel: How he has grabbed the opportunity! The injury to Ravindra Jadeja had really dealt India with a big blow, and so close to the World Cup. Patel, initially a member of the stand-by list, made the most of his opportunities with sharing batters early in his spell with telling effect. He will get carted once in a while, as he was on Sunday, but he is in a zone.

The questions marks (looking out of their depth still)

Harshal Patel: He is looking so out of depth. Patel is still being backed to bowl towards the end of the inning with the oldish ball and use his variety to keep the batters in check. Safe to say that he is not doing that at all. One of the candidates in the original list for the World Cup, one is beginning to wonder what makes him so special.

Yuzvendra Chahal: It is indeed a shame that Axar Patel is beginning to look like a better bet as a spinner than Chahal, supposedly our trump card in the slow bowling department. Not only has he looked ordinary, he tends to look desperate when things don’t go too well (which is often) and to crown it all, he is a seriously one-dimensional player, with no batting contributions to speak of and someone to hide while fielding.

The double question marks (where are they??)

Jasprit Bumrah: He is injured. No, he is not. He is out. No, he is not. Don’t jump the gun, says Sourav Ganguly, while the cricket board goes to town tom tomming the injury. So, we don’t know if he is, or is not, available for the World Cup.

Deepak Hooda: Where is he? Time to print ‘missing’ posters about the Hooda. And this about a player who was right up there on the honours list not so long ago.
The semi-colons (in the side, but not the game)

Rohit Sharma: The boss is struggling to get into the big scores, and at times even to clear the 30-yeard circle. Could it be the pressure of captaincy? But he is far too much of a veteran to let that affect him. But not a pretty sight.

KL Rahul: Two good innings, but Rahul needs to do more than that to really convince people. He is castigated as being all at sea in the crucial games, so he will need to come good in the real big games to win fans and critics over.

Ravichandran Ashwin: Ashwin isn’t looking like half the bowler he normally is. Could well be due to lack of continuous match practice, but he is trying to push the ball to flat and hard and at the legs. Also not a pretty sight.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: If Bumrah doesn’t make it, Bhuvi will have to lead from the front. But he looks tentative and downright ineffective at times. Big problem.

Rishabh Pant: Not getting to bat, with DK having grabbed the finisher role, with almost always comes at No. 5. Getting out of match practice and not looking convincing when he does get a hit. Wicketkeeping hasn’t been really tested yet.

This is how, it stands, as per our estimate. Cricket as always will throw up a surprise or two, but those who will make a telling difference are already beginning to show. If the rest shape up, we have a real competitive side. If not, it could well be a struggle of immense proportions.

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