Want to impress: Delhi Capitals’ Prithvi Shaw trains in Delhi on Tuesday (Image credit: Delhi Capitals/IPL) It is unfortunate that Shreyas Iyer is missing. It’s not his fault or ours. He has to wait for his chance.” That was India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar when he announced the T20I squad for the Asia Cup last August. Iyer was fresh from an IPL season where he scored 604 runs at 174 while leading the Punjab Kings to the final.Barring Arshdeep Singh, no player from any of last year’s finalists could find a place in India’s T20 World Cup winning team last month. The IPL is now in a very interesting phase. It has given rise to a glut of players that have made India a T20 superpower, but the earlier phase of the league being dominated by just a few big teams may be over.
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RCB’s big changes ahead of IPL: New rules, tribute and squad updateChennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians – the two most successful franchises – have struggled to maintain consistency over the years. In fact, this trend mirrors the Indian domestic cricket scene. The center of power no longer necessarily ends in Mumbai, Karnataka, Delhi or Tamil Nadu.Teams from “smaller” states have found a way to make their presence felt, starting with Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Saurashtra and Gujarat. Jammu, Kashmir and Jharkhand also rose above the rest. In the IPL, the success of CSK and MI became a template for other franchises. Talent could be sourced from the furthest part through some of the extensive scouting programs that franchises run.India’s national selectors – a panel of just five former cricketers – could in turn use IPL team scouts.Over the next two months, Agarkar’s committee will keep a close eye on the players who are doing well in the IPL. Punjab Kings had none other than Arshdeep in the World Cup squad, but a closer look at the composition of India’s ‘A’ team over the past year tells the real story. The likes of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Ayush Badoni, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh and Vipraj Nigam are now well established names. National selectors have often been accused of getting carried away by IPL performances, but the former national selector says the league is the perfect tool to gauge the temperament of younger players.TOI understands that the selectors have already prepared their targets for this IPL.One part deals with spotting new talent and watching last season’s exceptional talent work to achieve consistency. The second part includes a look at the core of the ODI team ahead of next year’s World Cup. For instance, the selectors will keep a close eye on the development of pacer Mayank Yadav and LSG’s Abdul Samad. But he will also see how Rishabh Pant is placed. Pant has been part of the ODI squad for the last two years but has only been given one game.Hardik Pandya’s bowling prowess will also be watched. Then there is Nitish Kumar Reddy, whose development as an all-round bowler will be watched. Franchises and national selectors exist side by side, but the purpose is independent of each other. The IPL has grown so much that national selectors don’t have to limit themselves to table toppers to unearth new talent.
