T20 World Cup 2022: For every single cricketer, it is a dream come true to feature for one’s nation. No matter wherever you are and in how good of a position you go to, at the end of the day, you will be coming back to your roots and the dream of donning your nation’s jersey. That pride of donning a nation’s jersey manifolds itself by multiple times when the tournament that you are about to be a part of is the World Cup.
However, cricket has evolved in recent times and with the evolution of the game, it’s no longer just the 50-over World Cup that would allow the players to be a part of the prestigious tournament. T20 has now become an integral part of the sport and that means another format of World Cup where life is defined in the fast lane.
With the IPL going on in full swing, it is supposed to harbour the perfect pedestal for a slew of young talents who can be a part of the upcoming biennial extravaganza. However, there are also a few youngsters who were billed pretty highly at the auction but have somehow fallen out of favour after a string of mediocre performances. In this story, let us take a look at five players who probably has lost their ticket to the T20 World Cup.
Devdutt Padikkal
Padikkal was supposed to be the trump card for the Rajasthan Royals. Sadly, for the southpaw, he has been nowhere close to his former form that he showed for the Challengers. His only good knock in the tournament so far has been that of a half-century and a few breezy cameos. With openers aplenty in the Indian side, it is almost certain that until an injury strikes the Indian shed, the lanky southpaw is not coming to the T20 World Cup.
Prithvi Shaw
It has been a tradition now for Prithvi Shaw to start the IPL on a swashbuckling note, hammering knocks that is downright impressive and then disappearing from the limelight with a string of successive fiascos. He started the tournament with a bang that would see him score 53 and 38 in the first two games.
Then again after a brief hiatus, he would score two half-centuries. However, since his last half-century against KKR, he has somehow been plagued by ordinary knocks that may have racked up the numbers but the significance has been null and void. Even though there is a chance that India may give him one shot in the South Africa series or the Asia Cup, yet for that he will need to be consistent because two bad games in a T20 World Cup and your nation crashes out.
Ishan Kishan
At the rate at which Dinesh Karthik has performed, it won’t be surprising if he is chosen ahead of Ishan Kishan. Even though Ishan has been the favourite all along before the tournament started to tip the scales, yet his preceding performances against West Indies and his shaky displays in the IPL has already penned a fate that is downright obnoxious for the young hard-hitter. Somehow, it feels that probably the youngster has been given more limelight than he is used to and will need time to come of age.
Shahrukh Khan
The man was heavily tipped to be an amazing find ahead of the IPL but it all went down the drain when after the first game where he would dish out an anchoring knock to Odean Smith’s madness. The way Shahrukh performed at the SMAT and the following domestic affairs, he was being considered as a name who could actually sway the selectors to be picked for the probable. Sadly, his IPL displays has probably put a halt in his T20 World Cup playing dreams.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
This may be a very thin line to call him out yet. Somehow, it feels that he was bothered until now and somehow it currently feels that he can still make it work. However, when it comes to a World Cup, the selectors will always need someone who can tip the scales of the game. With the quality of openers that India has, unless Gaikwad can prove himself until the Asia Cup, it is almost certain that he won’t be a part of the T20 World Cup.
