India Vs England Series Review. The most anticipated limited overs series of the year—#1 England vs #2 India.
Did the series live up to the hype? Not quite. Except the Sam Curran game, none of the games went down to the wire, but there were plenty of talking points regardless:
40 is the new 50 feat Jason Roy
Debutants Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Liam Livingstone, & Prasidh Krishna storm the international arena
Shardul Thakur is the new Liam Plunkett
The power game of Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, & Ben Stokes is second to none
Here are the series stats, video highlights, winners & losers, and emerging players. Read till the end forWorld T20I Squad Predictionsand some Dinesh Karthik content.
Mark Wood – 5 wickets (best of 3/34, 21.80 average, 6.41 economy)
India Vs England Series 2021 – ODI Stats
The Highlights
India
The highest wicket-taker across both the ODIs & T20Is from both sides, Shardul Thakur has been a revelation over the last few months. After his match-winning contribution at the Gabba, he has contributed in almost every match, either as a power hitter down the order or with important wickets. Only fitting that Ajit Agarkar (with 288 wickets on his name) was on-commentary during some of Thakur’s spells.
India’s young brigade—Ishan Kishan began with a solid 56, Suryakumar Yadav 57 (with one-legged six for first shot), and Krunal Pandya scored India’s fastest debutant 50. The lanky Prasidh Krishna was my pick of the lot. Expensive in his first spells but came back with figures of 4/54 & 2/58. Great spirit! Add Shreyas Iyer’s stable performances, Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form in the ODIs, & Virat Kohli’s consistency, this Indian line up looks really solid. Even without Kohli’s elusive 71st ton.
The old Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back. Bhuvi’s economy of 4.65 in a high scoring series & KL Rahul’s 62* & 108 in the ODIs (after 0,0,1, 14 in the T20Is) hold well for India. Maybe KL in the middle order is the way to go with Kohli-Rohit opening in the T20Is.
Middle overs bowling is a concern for India. Since the break of Kuldeep-Chahal, neither have been convincing. Time for Kuldeep to go back to first class cricket or a county cricket stint. R Ashwin limited overs comeback?
Jonny Bairstow& Jason Roy were the reason behind England’s rise & 2019 WC victory, but both had questions over the place over the last few months.
Bairstow, the Test batsman, had scores of 0,0, 28 & 0.
Bairstow, the limited overs batsman, is something else. First full over – 2 sixes to Chahal. Regained confidence in the T20I and came to the fore in the ODIs with 94 & 124. Except for the ill-timed shot in the first ODI, good signs for England
Roy’s the new Root: 49, 46, 9, 40, 0, 46, 55, & 14. After a poor 2020, finally good to have the old Roy back, but needs to convert more often.
Mark Wood was my player of the series based on his commitment. The highest wicket taker for England in the ODIs, he bowled his heart out. In the last ODI, he was visibly under the weather but kept bowling at 141+ kph. To add the cherry to the cake, he stayed in the game in that 60 (61) partnership with Sam Curran.
Let us talk about the player who was not here (and no, I am not talking about Alex Hales, whose window for return may have opened). Liam Plunkett has been sorely missed since he was dumped post World Cup victory. Tom Curran & Chris Jordan have been expensive across both the formats, and Adil Rashid has only been successful in his new Powerplay position. England can definitely chase 350+, but without Plunkett, they are consistently giving away that many runs.
Sam Curran‘s 95* in the final game was the highlight of the series. The make things happen guy had not done much of note for the entire series, but showed his worth in the final ODI dismissing the dangerous Rishabh Pant and displaying his finishing game.
Oh and by the way, my tweet right before the Pant wicket. All he needed was this tweet. You’re welcome Sam Curran fans.
The Umpiring Anti-Award:Soft-signal (we know it is bad when this rule is dropped from the IPL). This rule received strong criticism after Suryakumar Yadav’s catch by Dawid Malan was deemed out on soft signal (although camera angles were inconclusive).
India
England
Emerging Players
Kohli-Rohit T20I opening
Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Liam Livingstone
Surprise Package
‘Intent’
Sam Curran, the finisher
Broken Cricket Dream
Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav
Eoin Morgan (injured), Tom Curran & Chris Jordan’s economy rate
New Zealand tour England for two Tests in June followed by India Vs New Zealand for the World Test Championship final. Oh and if you did not have enough of watching these two teams, India tour England for 5 Tests in August-September.
After a year of no cricket, women’s cricket finally restarted in India. Although the series ended with 4-1 and 2-1 to South Africa, there were positives for both teams.
Lizelle Lee’s blew India away with a whirlwind series, Shabnim Ismail continued to show why she is one of the leading fast bowlers in the world, and Anneke Bosch made full use of her opportunities.
While it seems that Women’s IPL is not going to become a reality anytime soon, India had positives as well.
India added another feather to Mithali Raj’s & Jhulan Goswami’s record breaking careers, witnessed Punam Raut’s second coming & return of Mansi Joshi, and saw the rise of youngsters in Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Monica Patel, & Radha. The experienced trio of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Deol, & Deepti Sharma chipped in as well, but lower order power hitting & Jemimah Rodrigues’ ODI form remains a concern.
For Video Highlights/Scorecards, commentary on Women’s IPL, & emerging players, keep on reading ahead.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad – 4 wickets (best of 3/9, 4.75 economy)
Shabnim Ismail – 4 wickets (best of 3/14, 8.20 economy)
India Vs South Africa Women 2021 T20I Series Stats
The Highlights
India
Punam Raut was revelation in this series with scores of 10, 62*, 77, 104*, & 10. Debuting 12 years ago with 72 ODIs & an average in the 30s, she was already a known name in the line up. Before this series, Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, & Jhulan Goswami were sure starters for the Indian Women’s ODI team. Add Punam Raut to that list after this breakthrough series. Could be a long term #3 option.
Mithali Raj & Jhulan Goswami once again displayed their worth in this ODI team. Although she had no centuries to her name this series, Mithali Raj consistently steadied the ship with scores of 50, 36, 45, and 79*. In the process, she became the first Indian women and second overall to cross 10,000 runs across formats. Legend. The other stalwart, Jhulan Goswami, came to the party as well with a match winning 4/42 in the second ODI.
Shafali Verma gave India the much-needed blazing starts in the T20I hitting 8 sixes altogether, with the 60*(30) in the 3rd T20I the best of the lot. Now the #1 ranked T20I batter. Time for ODI debut?
South Africa
If there was one player that was the difference between the two sides, it was Lizelle Lee and the top order. Usually one match winning knock in a series is a great achievement, but Lizelle came up with 83*, 132*, 69, & 70 across formats. Brilliant. When Lee did not perform, either the others in the top order Laura Wolvaardt (80 & 53) and Lara Goodall (59) came to the fore or South Africa women lost.
The Proteas found a new winner in Anneke Bosch with two player of the match performances. With Mignon Du Preez & Sune Luus chipping in and van Niekerk on an injury break, South Africa might be a dark horse for the next World Cup.
Shabnim Ismail & the fast bowling unit were impressive yet again. Although Ismail was the only one with the wickets, Khaka & Kapp kept the runs in the check, limiting India to 177, 248, 266, and 188.
No Women’s IPL yet again & Jemimah Rodrigues’ ODI form
Van Niekerk’s Out of Action – Missing out on a wonderful overseas series win
India Vs South Africa Women 2021 Series Awards
Where Do They Go From Here?
At this point, except the upcoming Australia vs New Zealand Women series coming up, there are no upcoming international fixtures till ODI World Cup in March 2022. The only professional cricket seems to be The Hundred in the UK this summer. Promises to be a game changer for Women’s cricket.
Another setback has happened with reports of no IPL in 2021 (with suggestions that this was done due to the ‘lack of depth’ and result of the South Africa series).
If the result of this series indeed had a direct impact on the WIPL decision, then let us reflect back. Were India really that bad this series? Not really. They actually improved over the course of the series. 177, 160/1 (won), 248 (lost only by D/L), and 266. In the final T20I, chased 113 with 9 wickets and 9 overs in hand. If not for Lizelle Lee’s brilliance, the score line would have been much closer.
Also if the national cricket board does not give the team a chance for an entire year after the team reached the final of a World T20, then it is not the players’ fault. It is the administration’s lack of urgency, vision, & communication.
Thoughts on Women’s Indian Premier League
It was nice to see widespread awareness and support in Twitter countering the arguments made against Women’s IPL. Here was a list of the top women professional cricketers in India that went viral.
If not now, when? Mithali Raj & Jhulan Goswami are on the verge of retirements, and it would be a shame if they are not part of the first iteration of this imaginary tournament. Here are my thoughts on the positives that Indian cricket can gain from the WIPL:
Foster fanbases & transfer experience to the next generation of Indian players
Intermingling of domestic Indian players with international stars and coaches, which has clearly been a feature of the
Financial Growth, which can be reinvested to grow the women’s game in India and improve the standard of women’s domestic cricket in the long run.
Cultural and financial awareness through the WIPL in the form of TV and social media can help make women’s sports a potential career in India
Bring talented youngsters in the mix
Narrowing down the gap between Australia-England-New Zealand and the rest of the countries in women’s cricket. This will also give an opportunity to Associate nations like the rising Thailand team.
Sure maybe 8 teams with 30 players each may be two far, but just 4 games in the Women’s T20 Challenge is a disgrace. Start with 4-6 teams and grow it little by little each year.
All that glitters is gold, at least for this Indian cricket team.
36 All out? Bruised bodies? Losing the first match of a series? No matter the obstacle, this team has risen to the challenge. Grit, fearlessness, and resilience all on display in the Australia & England series.
Ishan Kishan hits a 50 on debut. Suryakumar Yadav pulls his first ball for a one-legged six and scores a 50 as well. Rahul Chahar impresses. Prasidh Krishna picks 4 wickets on ODI debut. Krunal Pandya caps it off with the fastest debutant half century.
Sundar, Gill, Thakur, Natarajan, and Siraj all came to the party in Australia. The list goes on and on.
It seems that for every Ravindra Jadeja, there is an Axar Patel & Krunal Pandya. In fact, India has a production line of 75 players & can even field four teams at the same time. They are reaping rewards of systems created by the IPL, India U-19, & India A (courtesy Rahul Dravid).
The Curse
Recent successes cannot hide the cracks beneath the surface.
The selection mismanagement (or ‘rejection’ as Ajay Jadeja calls it) of Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube, & Sanju Samson is well known. Dropping players after a couple of games & constant experimentation instills a lack of confidence, instability, & insecurity within the team. India needs to make sure they do not repeat this mistake with the likes of KL Rahul & Shreyas Iyer.
Because if similar management continues, India’s upcoming T20 World Cup campaign will be in jeopardy.
Paradigm Shift
There is no dearth of talent in Indian cricket, but how it is utilized is key.
Gone are the days where teams carry players across formats for an entire decade. Except for the occasional Kohlis, Rabadas, & Williamsons, we will not see the all-format player again.
India is amidst an experimentation phase where any newcomer fits into the team environment & performs. In order to sustain this way of playing, a paradigm shift is required not only among the selectors & captain but also in the thought process of each player that is selected on the particular day.
Is flexibility the new stability? Only time will tell, but remember—some change is good, but too much change can create chaos.
We billed this series as the “Final Before the (WTC) Final” and after overseas victories for both India (vs Australia) and England (Vs Sri Lanka), the series had hype for the right reasons.
Instead this series will be remembered for exactly the wrong reasons—Discussions about the pitches in Chennai & Pink Ball Test, rotation policy & England’s treatment of Moeen Ali, and hasty umpiring decisions (along with Kohli’s priceless reactions).
There were some good days for cricket as well with Ishant Sharma’s 100 Tests & 300 wickets, Joe Root’s 218, Anderson’s dream over, Foakes’ & Pant’s wicket-keeping, R Ashwin’s 100 & 9-fer, Ashwin’s 32 & Axar’s 27 wickets, Sundar’s 85* & 96*, Rohit Sharma’s masterclass, and Pant’s reverse sweep (to Anderson) in a brilliant 100.
Read till the end for my picks for the best moments,emerging players, controversies, and much more! COMMENT BELOW ON YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS.
*Note: Underlined & Bolded links are videos. Underlined without bold are links to other articles.
Results – England Vs India
The reason why I did not enjoy this series as much was due to the lack of competitiveness. 227 runs, 317 runs, 10 wickets, and an innings victory was in complete contrast to the edge-of-the-seat stuff (last session draws/chases) in the Australia series.
India Ravichandran Ashwin – 189 runs (best of 106, average 31.50, 1 – 100)
Most Runs
Joe Root – 368 runs (best of 218, average 46.00, 100s/50s – 1/0)
Rohit Sharma – 345 runs (best of 161, average 57.50, 100s/50s -1/1
Most Wickets
Jack Leach – 18 wickets (best innings – 4/54, best match – 6/178, 28.72 average, strike rate 53.6)
R Ashwin – 32 wickets (best innings – 6/61, best match – 9/207, 14.71 average, 35.2 SR, 3 5-fers
India Vs England 2021 Test Series Stats
The Highlights
England
1. We Miss The Non-Converting Joe Root
At the beginning of 2021, Joe Root’s stats read 17-100s, 49-50s. After the Sri Lanka & India tours, his stats read 20-100s, 49-50s. His last 6 Test matches show:
228 & 1 (run-out), 186 & 11, 218 & 40
6 & 33, 17 & 19, 5 & 30
Notice something? He converted 3 daddy hundreds, and then followed it up with 3 middling Test matches (mainly due to the intelligent bowling of Axar and Siraj). Now, we should not be too harsh on Root. The law of averages surely catches up, he had additional stress of captaincy, and he even bowled his heart out including a 5/8.
Still, the Joe Root who scored consistent 60s & 70s might have been more than handy on this low scoring tour. The 50th 50 would be cherry on top of his personally successful season.
2. Batting Wins Matches
Catches win matches? Sure. Need to take 20 wickets to secure a Test victory? Maybe.
How about batting with scores of 178, 134 & 164, 112 & 81, and 205 & 135? Definitely Not. This is called batting yourself out of a Test series. Let us dig a bit deeper:
Pope 153 runs at 19.12 (best of 34), Sibley 134 at 16.75 (best of 87) – 4 Tests each
Burns 58 runs at 14.50 (best of 33), Bairstow 28 at 7.00 (best of 7, 3 ducks), Crawley 67 at 16.75 (best of 53) – 2 Tests each
For international level cricket, if your Top 5 comprises of these players, barely-in-form Root-Stokes, and Buttler/Foakes, then this is just not going to cut it.
Maybe a certain Joe Denly might have been able to weather the storm better. If not the centuries, at least the Denturies would have come.
3. Anderson, Foakes & Lawrence The Bright Stars
Let us take out the stats for the moment, and look at the bright side.
Winning a Test match is not easy. Winning away even harder. Hence, the 227 run victory in Chennai should be regarded as a huge accomplishment, regardless of the 3-1 margin. (The issue was not the score line. Rather, it was the way they lost the final 3 Test matches).
Jimmy Anderson’s 6/40 in Galle & 3/17 in Chennai should rest the ‘Clouderson’ and ‘poor away record’ claims. That 3/17 included one of the best overs of reverse swing you will ever see. A well set Shubman Gill was bowled through the gate, Rahane survived an umpires call appeal, and then carbon copy bowled. Does not get any better than that.
On the turning pitches, Ben Foakes’ keeping was absolutely magnificent. His split-second stumping of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test were quite something. (His batting showed signs of defiance, but could not reach his heights of his debut). Finally with 73 on debut and 46 & 50 in the final Test, Dan Lawrence showed some signs of steel.
Finally Channel 4 coverage was a win-win situation for the fans.
India
1. Axar Patel Invokes His Inner Embuldeniya, R Ashwin – The Man of the Hour
Just like Embuldeniya troubled England prior to this tour, Axar was the concern this time around. Straighter one, bounce, turn, guile, he had it all.
The best part is that Axar was not even supposed to play this series if not for Jadeja’s injury. 27 wickets at 10.59 with 4 5-wicket hauls & 1-10 wicket haul (best inning – 6/38, best match 11/70). Even got the opportunity to take a five-wicket haul at his home with some crowd. Stuff of dreams.
R Ashwin has got to be the most intelligent player in international cricket. He has a YouTube channel, reads books in his free time, is an engineer, can mess with the batsmen due to the Mankad-threat, talks to the media about a ‘bad pitch’, walks the talk with a 106 on the Chennai turner, and bamboozles the batsmen with skillful bowling.
The dismissals of Ollie Pope (carrom ball, beats the bat, bowled) in the final Test have to be my moments of this series.
2. The Sharmas Come To The Party
Wonderful achievement by Ishant Sharma for his 100th Test & 300 wickets. Just rewards for a brilliant journey over the last decade. Although this series was spin-dominated, Ishant Sharma 4.0 still has several years to offer to Indian cricket.
Rohit Sharma went very much under the radar this time, but India’s series victory was in jeopardy without his contributions. 161 on a tricky pitch was the turning moment of the series, and he followed it up with patient 26, 66 & 25*, and 49. In these low scoring matches, runs on the board provided the cushion for the spinners to dominate.
3. India’s Big 3 Just Not Good Enough, Depth Covers the Spots
Just like many other well-wishers, I had predicted Virat Kohli to come back in this series with a tough 50 at the start and a a double century by the end. The tough 72 in the 2nd innings at Chennai definitely came, but nowhere near the elusive 71st international century. Here are the stats:
Virat Kohli: 172 runs at 28.66 (best of 72, 2-50s, 2 ducks)
Ajinkya Rahane: 112 runs at 18.66 (best of 67, 1-50, 1 duck)
Cheteshwar Pujara: 133 runs at 22.16 (best of 73, 1-50, 1 duck)
I do not remember so many ducks by these 3. Nor do I remember a series where none fired.
Apart from Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, & R Ashwin all outscored the middle order stalwarts. Since India emerged victorious, the cracks are temporarily filled, but questions should be asked.
After that Melbourne innings, Rahane has not done enough. Pujara is doing fine and crucial to India’s line up, but is not converting to daddy hundreds at the moment.
Given India’s depth, is it time to breed in the next generation? Is it time to rotate home/away batsmen as India rotates fast bowlers/ spinners?
Also Read:
Controversies
Umpires
The umpiring decisions in the 2nd & 3rd Tests caught the attention of the public. It was not necessarily the decisions made, but the manner in which they were decided (Ben Stokes’ catch – on field out, but turned over quickly). A standard procedure & muting the umpires’ conversation may be the way to go forward here.
Pitch
By the end of the series, it was easily recognized that England’s lack of batting application led to their downfall, not the state of the pitches. However, 2-day & 3-day matches do not anybody a favor, either. The pink ball Test is supposed to get more public to watch the game, but most of these matches are ending in 3 or 4 days, which is counterintuitive. The first Test may have been the most balanced pitch, even though it was slow & attritional for the first day and a half.
Rotation Policy
Finally, the rotation policy. England’s rotation policy has possibly extended the careers of Broad & Anderson, given a chance to youngsters fighting for a national spot, and is important in the coronavirus era due to mental health. Rotation is not necessarily a bad thing, but how it was implemented in this series was dodgy.
Archer, Burns, & Stokes were rested for the series in Sri Lanka, while the rest of the squad stayed. However, Buttler left after one Test, Moeen Ali finally playing a Test only to go back home (due to miscommunication), Bairstow played the last two, Woakes left without playing, so on and so forth.
I cannot imagine how much the constant traveling & jet lag, inconsistency in selection & unsettled line-ups, and not having enough practice games might have impacted their minds. I can understand rotation between series, but during a series is a bit much.
And if this rotation was for the preparation for upcoming T20 World Cup & IPL, losing out to the WTC Final spot at home should seriously be questioned.
Awards
We like to spice things up with our own awards for the series. Here they are:
India made Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel (greatest understudy of all time), and Washington Sundar into world class all-rounders. England took a world class all-rounder in Moeen Ali and practically destroyed a budding career.
India
England
Emerging Player
Axar Patel
Dan Lawrence, Rotation Policy
Surprise Package
Lower Middle Order
Dom Bess’s Full Tosses; Joe Root’s 5-fer
Broken Cricket Dream
Shardul Thakur – Did not get a game after a 92 & 4-fer at Gabba Dreams Broken For Fans Wanting Ashwin to become the 4th player to do the double of 100 + 10-fer
Stuart Broad’s Asian Dream, Jonny Bairstow’s Test Career, Moeen Ali
India Vs England 2021 Test Series Awards
Where Do They Go From Here?
A 5 match T20I series & 3-match ODI series to follow, preparing for the upcoming T20I World Cup in India. Then, we will have the IPL, England will play a couple of test matches against the New Zealand at home, and finally India Vs New Zealand for the WTC final.
After England’s victory at Chennai, I declared that this English team could rival the 2010-2012 team due to the good mix of youth, experience, & abroad victories. I guess that was a bit premature.
Was this India Vs England 2021 Test series the ‘greatest story of all time’ like the India Vs Australia? Nope.
Was it as controversial as the South Africa Vs Australia scandalous ball tampering series? Not really.
At best, this was just a Meh kind of series. Had its moments, but did not capture the imagination of the next generation. Sums it up for the World Test Championship.
What did you think of the India Vs England 2021 Test Series? Let us know!
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India Vs South Africa Women 2021 Series Preview—finally some progress in women’s cricket in India.
Earlier, we explored why Nobody Cares About Women’s Cricket. The Indian men have played a 60 day IPL, had a complete tour of Australia, and is now hosting England for a full series. On the other hand, Indian women have played half-a-week long T20 Challenge. That is it. No training either until recently. This will be India’s first assignment since the World T20 Final on March 8th, 2020.
Meanwhile South Africa women are coming on back of a 3-0 ODI & 2-1 T20I victory against Pakistan at home. Here is a preview of the 5 ODI & 3 T20I match tour between India and South Africa. Here is what you should expect, the big surprises in team selection, the squads, and our series prediction.
When and Where?
Here are the dates and the venue for the India Vs South Africa Women series.
Mithali Raj, the highest run scorer in Women’s ODI cricket, is just 85 runs shy of 10,000 international runs across formats (6888 ODI, 2364 T20I, 663 Tests). After 487 days away from national duty, she will back trying to take India to the ODI World Cup next year. At 38, this might be Raj’s final hurrah.
On the other end of the spectrum, watch out for the explosive 17-year-old Shafali Verma in the T20Is. She already has 19 international caps and strikes it at 146.24.
A lot will depend on the India’s experienced middle order. Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, and Sushma Verma (comeback) will need to make sure India bats 50 overs in case of a collapse.
South Africa: Enviable Top-Order With Lee, Wolfvaardt, and Luus
If the top order of Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolfvaardt, and Sune Luus play to their potential, this South African team will be very hard to beat. Luus also has the extra responsibility of the stand-in captain in the absence of injured Dan van Niekerk.
Lookout for Trisha Chetty. A veteran of 114 ODIs, the wicketkeeper-batsman is integral to the core of this South African side.
Tazmin Brits is the in-form T20I batsman for South Africa. With scores of 52* & 66, she was the Player of the T20I series against Pakistan.
The Bowling
India: Shikha Pandey’s Omission The Talking Point
In the build up to this series, the omission of India’s pace spearhead, Shikha Pandey, has taken the public by surprise. India’s most successful pace bowler of recent times and 2nd highest wicket taker in India’s last assignment (T20 World Cup) this is a huge call.
In Shikha’s absence, the pace responsibility will lie with the veteran Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, and Arundhati Reddy (T20I only)
I am most excited to watch India’s spin trio—Poonam Yadav, the T20 World Cup star,, Radha Yadav, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. The youngster, Harleen Deol, impressed in the T20 Challenge with the Trailblazers and might get more opportunities to showcase her talent on the international stage.
South Africa: Ample Fast Bowling Resources, but Spin the Concern
The allrounder, Marizanne Kapp, is the glue that holds South Africa’s together. In the Player of the Match performance in the 2nd ODI against Pakistan, she scored an unbeaten 68 along with 3-44 as the opening pace bowler. Brilliant.
Shabnam Ismail is one of the best fast bowlers on women’s cricket circuit at the moment. South Africa’s highest wicket taker in both ODIs and T20Is, she will be key to South Africa’s success.
Without regular captain and off-spinner van Niekerk, South Africa’s spin bowling department is the concern.
Along with Mandhana, Raj, & Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy caught the public’s eye in the 2017 ODI World Cup as India’s finisher. Yet, an ODI average of 25.9 & T20I average of 18.61 was not justifiable. Hopefully this is just a short term loss of form, and she we come roaring back soon.
Harmanpreet Kaur insisted that Pandey was ‘rested, not dropped‘ in order to experiment with the rest of the squad for upcoming tournaments. I do not buy this statement given a 18-member squad was picked regardless and that India has not played any international cricket for over a year.
South Africa: Masabata Klaas
South Africa are carrying a settled squad, with the exception of Klass. She suffered a last-minute injury in the Pakistan series and has not been picked for this series.
Prediction
Verdict: 3-2 South Africa (ODIs) & 2-1 India (T20Is)
South Africa’s top order and fast bowlers should give them the edge in the ODIs. Expect competitive games with scores around 225-250.
I am going with India 2-1 for the T20I series. The swashbuckling top order of Jemimah, Shafali, and Mandhana may be too much to handle for South Africa. India should look to bat first, put up a decent score, and let the spin trio handle the rest.
Let us know your thoughts on India Vs South Africa Women, and the eventual scorelines.
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My Starting XIs
These are my starting XIs (assuming everyone is available in terms of COVID and injuries).
During that series, Australia announced a Test & T20I squad that would have been played at the same time (before Australia cancelled the South Africa tour of course).
These two events got me thinking—Can India field two Test XIs at the same time without overlapping players? How about an additional ODI & T20I team?
Today’s Twist
Build FOUR Indian National Cricket Teams Roster: 1 Test team, an ODI, and 2 T20I XIs so that (1) each team can field a team (wicketkeeper & 5 bowling options), and (2) a player is not repeated in any of the lists.
The Catch
Would you pick Virat Kohli for the Test team, ODI, or the T20I? Bumrah?
Can you make all 4 teams balanced? The goal is that each team is just as good and competitive on the international stage. The ODI & T20I teams should be good enough for the World Cups and the Test teams for the World Test Championship.
Before we start making the list, here are all the 106 cricketers in India currently who are vying for an Indian national spot!
Batters
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Virat Kohli
Suryakumar Yadav
Rinku Singh
Shreyas Iyer
Abhishek Sharma
Devdutt Padikkal
Sai Sudharshan
Sarfaraz Khan
Tilak Verma
Abhimanyu Easwaran
Wicket-Keepers
Sanju Samson
Rishabh Pant
Dhruv Jurel
KL Rahul
Ishan Kishan
Jitesh Sharma
Spin All-Rounders
Axar Patel
Ravindra Jadeja
Riyan Parag
Washington Sundar
Tanush Kotian
Krunal Pandya
Pace All-Rounders
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Hardik Pandy
Venkatesh Iyer
Ramandeep Singh
Vijay Shankar
Spinners
Kuldeep Yadav
Yuzvendra Chahal
Ravi Bishnoi
Rahul Chahar
Varun Chakravarthy
R Sai Kishore
Fast Bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammad Shami
Arshdeep Singh
Mohammad Siraj
Mukesh Kumar
Deepak Chahar
Prasidh Krishna
Harshit Rana
Akash Deep
Avesh Khan
Mukesh Choudhary
Khaleel Ahmed
T Natarajan
Mohsin Khan
Kuldeep Sen
Umran Malik
Mayank Yadav
Navdeep Saini
Fringe Players
Hanuma Vihari
Rahul Tripathi
Rajat Patidar
Prithvi Shaw
Deepak Hooda
Mayank Agarwal
Rahul Tewatia
Karun Nair
KS Bharat (WK)
Nitish Rana
Shardul Thakur
Harshal Patel
Shahbaz Ahmed
Abhishek Porel (WK)
Anuj Rawat (WK)
Abdul Samad
Shahrukh Khan
Shashank Singh
Mayank Markande
Sandeep Sharma
Yash Dayal
Ashutosh Sharma
Kartik Tyagi
Future Stars
Ayush Badoni
Sameer Rizvi
Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Shivam Mavi
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Nehal Wadhera
Vaibhav Arora
Musheer Khan
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Raj Bawa
Yash Dhull
Vidwath Kaverappa
Vijaykumar Vyshak
Baba Indrajith
Narayan Jagadeesan (WK)
Anshul Kamboj
Past? (But have not retired yet)
Ajinkya Rahane
Cheteshwar Pujara
Jayant Yadav
Karn Sharma
Manish Pandey
Ishant Sharma
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Mohit Sharma
Jaydev Unadkat
Shahbaz Nadeem
Four Possible XIs for Indian National Cricket Team
*Note: Since our original iteration in 2021, Rahane, Pujara, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Dinesh Karthik. have dropped out of these lists.
Test XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Abhimanyu Easwaran
Hanuma Vihari
Sarfaraz Khan
Rishabh Pant (WK)
Dhruv Jurel
Axar Patel
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Kuldeep Yadav
Jasprit Bumrah (C)
Akash Deep
ODI XI
Rohit Sharma (C)
Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli
Shreyas Iyer
KL Rahul (WK)
Hardik Pandya
Ravindra Jadeja
Mohammad Shami
Mohammad Siraj
Yuzvendra Chahal
Avesh Khan
Indian Cricket Limited Overs Teams:
T20 Team 1
Sanju Samson (WK)
Abhishek Sharma
Tilak Verma
Suryakumar Yadav (C)
Rinku Singh
Riyan Parag
Washington Sundar
Deepak Chahar
Prasidh Krishna
Ravi Bishnoi
Arshdeep Singh
T20I Team 2
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C)
Ishan Kishan (WK)
Devdutt Padikkal
Venkatesh Iyer
Ramandeep Singh
Jitesh Sharma
Krunal Pandya
Harshit Rana
Navdeep Saini
Rahul Chahar
Varun Chakravarthy
Players Who Have Retired Since the List Originally Came Out in 2021
Retired: R Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddharth Kaul, Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra
Out of Favor: Priyam Garg, Priyank Panchal, Mandeep Singh
Conclusion
Problem of plenty for Team India.
We have all criticized Indian cricket selectors at some point in time, but we can clearly see it is difficult to give every player an extended run. Gone are the days where we can find players who play 2 or 3 formats for more than a decade. Virat Kohli maybe the last of his breed in India.
Next week, we will do a similar exercise with the England cricket team. Their limited overs depth is quite something, and they are a rising force in Test cricket as well.
What will your Indian XIs be? What do you think of Indian cricket right now? COMMENT BELOW! Would love to know your thoughts!
If you like this, check out the rest of our World XIs with TwistsHere – Best Fielding XI, Best Commentators XI, and much more!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Indian Cricket Team Squad Depth
How many Indian cricketers are there?
As of 2025, at least 100 Indian cricketers are fighting for a place in the national team. Today the Indian national cricket team player list is one of envy with its massive depth.
How many teams can Indian cricket team field?
At least four professional cricket side can be fielded with the talent of Indian cricket team depth. These includes a separate squad for Test matches, ODI tournaments, and T20 series.
