India team for ICC World T20 2016

India are not expected to make any big chance in their 15-man squad that will be announced for the ICC World T20 2016 and the Asia Cup 2016.

The ICC World T20 2016 could be the last series for MS Dhoni © Getty Images

The Indian national selection panel will meet on Friday noon in New Delhi to name the Indian cricket team for the upcoming Asia Cup 2016 which will be held in Bangladesh, followed by the ICC World T20 2016. India will be hosting the mega tournament of the shortest format of cricket for the very first time, and all eyes will be pinned on MS Dhoni and his men to stamp their authority one more time. The Indian team has been on a roll; the clean sweep of Australia in their backyard was no ordinary — despite the poor status of the hosts in T20 cricket — and they will be starting the ICC World T20 2016 as well as Asia Cup 2016 as favourites.

There are wide speculations that the ICC World T20 2016 will be the last time Indian cricket team will be taking field under the captaincy of Dhoni. The stage is indeed set for one of India’s most beloved captains to win the trophy for the second time in his life and sign off in a spectacular manner.

However, all assumptions on Dhoni and his future look futile as there are no visible signs of the venerable cricketer leaving the game anytime soon, despite the going being a little tough for him as a captain as well as a player.

While Indian cricket will have to adopt the wait and watch policy as far as Dhoni is concerned, it is important for them to start focussing on the right things first. Even though for brief, the freshness that was seen in the Indian bowling attack in Australia should be enough for the selectors to persist with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Patel. The veteran in form of Ashish Nehra, who has been in terrific form in T20 cricket, should be enough for India to stack their bowling department with, as a major chunk of responsibility will lie on Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

The pair of Ashwin and Jadeja has been a revelation for India, and they will be expected to be the strike bowlers for India in the subcontinent. The Asia Cup 2016 — to be played from February 24 to March 6 — will provide a perfect opportunity for India to go through as well as revise their plans, and Ashwin and Jadeja will be forming an integral element of it.

The batting looks settled with Virat Kohli perching himself at the top of the table for the ICC Batsmen for T20 cricket Rankings. It will be really tough to tell who is in better form when Kohli is compared with Rohit Sharma, but it certainly is a win-win situation for India. Shikhar Dhawan showed glimpse of form in Australia, but India will need more consistency from him.

The presence of all-rounders like Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina becomes all the more critical, if India have to keep their seam bowling attack light. Both Yuvraj and Raina have the knack of taking wickets on regular basis and their presence will ensure that an extra batsman can be included in the playing XI. Yuvraj and Raina in the lower order alongside Dhoni will not only provide India enough experience and firepower, but the assurance that there are seasoned cricketers in charge during the critical overs at the end, and not the young who may fail to find timing. There will also be Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey.

Indian selectors made a right move when they named Pawan Negi in the squad for the series against Sri Lanka, as the Delhi and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer had been making all the right moves. However, his stint in the Indian team is likely to be a brief one as the management would not like to tinker with the balance and momentum that was achieved in Australia, and especially when the problem of plenty is already troubling them.

Harbhajan Singh’s has been a curious case. He has been in and out of the Indian cricket team, and whenever he has been in, wickets have not backed up his case. Harbhajan has been reduced to a bowler who can contain and rather than snaffle wickets at his pomp, and this is where India may look over the senior spinner to go ahead with different options.

India are not expected to make any big change in their 15-man squad that will be announced for the ICC World T20 2016 and the Asia Cup 2016 on Friday afternoon. The squad looks settled and on-song and India will pray that their form remains the same for many weeks to come.

India squad (likely) for ICC World T20 2016 and Asia Cup 2016: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.