NEW DELHI: With India set to play Champions Trophy in less than eight weeks’ time, a quality wrist-spinner, a second wicketkeeper to back up Rishabh Pant and the form of key pacers will be in focus during the upcoming National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy starting on Saturday across the country.
While the core of the 50-over team is vying for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia right now, the national showpiece has its own significance as some of the stars like Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya will get crucial game time.
Punjab’s Arshdeep Singh, Madhya Pradesh’s Avesh Khan, Rajasthan’s Khaleel Ahmed, Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar, UP’s Yash Dayal would also want to be in the bowling pack, which will expectedly be led by Jasprit Bumrah if all goes well.
Kuldeep Yadav’s long rehabilitation from a groin injury at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) might force the national selection committee to look for a potent option alongside Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, who could be automatic selections.
Varun Chakravarthy and Gujarat’s Ravi Bishnoi are two wrist spinners, who did exceedingly well in the T20 International series against South Africa.
While Bishnoi had played his solitary ODI back in 2022 against South Africa, Kuldeep’s absence gives him a chance to stake claim in the 50-over set-up.
Chakravarthy had a second coming in international cricket with 17 wickets in his last seven T20Is and 12 of them in South Africa in batting-friendly conditions.
He is expected to start against Chandigarh in Visakhapatnam on Saturday and although he has played only 17 List A matches, he has taken 41 wickets at an economy rate of 4.25.
Googly bowler Bishnoi has played 25 List A Games with 36 scalps giving away 5.25 runs per over.
Can Shreyas Iyer, with an average of 47 plus across 62 ODIs, walk into the squad for the Champions Trophy?
Or will he be put under pressure by someone like Tilak Verma with a List A average of 52 plus and five hundreds in 29 games? In his last ODI innings in South Africa in 2023, Tilak scored 52.
Tilak’s performances for Hyderabad will also be keenly watched by the selection committee and Iyer, after leading Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, won’t mind a double.