India versus Ireland: Rishabh Pant & Shreyas Iyer’s omission from T20I squad likely due to commitment for the Birmingham Test

While Rahul’s next outing for the men in blue is still up in the air due to his injury, the omission of both Pant – who captained India in Rahul’s absence in the T20s against South Africa – and Iyer is likely to trigger speculation over their form and whether or not they have been dropped from the side.

However, the postponed Test series decider against England is scheduled to take place from July 1 to July 5, just three days after the conclusion of the Ireland tour. Both Pant and Iyer are included in the test squad and will travel directly to Birmingham to work on their red-ball game, which likely explains their omission from the T20 team.

The trio has been replaced by Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, and Rahul Tripathi. This series is Yadav’s return to the Indian team after injury ruled him out for South Africa, while Samson has been called up once again after failing to make the team for the ongoing series. The 27-year-old led Rajasthan Royals to the recently concluded IPL final as captain. This also marks Tripathi’s maiden call-up to the Indian team.

India will be playing three T20Is and three ODIs in England following the conclusion of the last Test. The team selected for those matches is likely to more accurately represent the team’s best limited-overs squad.

The way forward

Two separate teams for the T20s and Tests could represent the way forward for Indian cricket. The model has been trialled once recently when India took on England in the still inconclusive test series last year, and a separate team – captained by Shikhar Dhawan – played a limited-overs series (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is) with Sri Lanka at home.

But with the IPL’s recent record-breaking broadcasting deal, the franchise league’s season is likely to expand over the upcoming years. At the same time, the BCCI has maintained that they are committed to developing India’s senior men’s cricket team across all formats, ensuring plenty of bilateral series’ every year.

With the schedule piling up, it is unlikely for the same set of players to be available for series’ across all formats at this rate, which could lead the selectors to explore the possibility of keeping their T20I and Test team separate during certain parts of the year.

If this is the way forward, it is likely to have knock-on effects on the development of the players. For example, if Rishabh Pant will feature more heavily in the Test side, Rahul Dravid & co could decide to groom Hardik Pandya, whose lower-back injury has severely hampered the number of overs he can bowl thus eliminating his chances to feature in tests, as India’s next limited-overs captain.

The same can be said about the likes of Ishan Kishan and Harshal Patel, whose playing style is far better suited to the limited-overs format, and would likely be developed as such. The more seasoned all-format players like Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will also need workload management with an increasingly hectic schedule.