Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey

Why IPL 2021 is crucial for these 5 Indian players | Looking at 5 Indian players who need to have a good IPL 2021 campaign to boost Indian squad hopes

Although India won the recent T20I series against England by a margin of 3-2, the individual performances of some players were not up to the mark. With the T20 world cup around the corner, there is still some lack of clarity regarding the best 15 to be picked for the mega event.

There are some players who would want to regain their touch by having a good IPL season, whereas some other players would like to present a strong case for themselves for a World Cup berth. Thus, the grandest T20 league will be not only a mode of entertainment for masses, but also a golden opportunity for some players. In this article, I am going to mention five Indian players, for whom performance in IPL 2021 will hold significant importance.

5. Kuldeep Yadav

Once upon a time, Kuldeep was the trump card for team India in limited overs cricket. Since the 2019 ODI World Cup, he has suffered a slump of form and looks absolutely lost at the moment.

In the last IPL, he played just 5 games and took a single wicket. Also, in the limited overs series against England, he hasn’t picked a single wicket in 2 ODIs and has conceded 152 runs from 19 overs at a miserable economy of 8.00. He is not being picked quite often in the Indian team and whenever he has got a chance, he hasn’t been able to capitalize on that. He needs to evolve his game in order to be effective once again in the international level. A breakthrough IPL season is absolutely necessary for Kuldeep to regain his form as well as confidence.

4. Sanju Samson

There is absolutely no doubt on the hitting prowess of Samson. However, he hasn’t been able to impress in whatever chance he has got so far in international level.

A clean striker of the ball, Sanju Samson blew hot and cold in IPL 2020. In the following Australian tour, his returns were mediocre and that’s why he found himself dropped from the squad for the home series against England. With both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav showing a lot of promise with their performances, it has only become tougher for Samson to make a comeback now. He has to lead the Rajasthan Royals this season and this will add an extra responsibility on his shoulders. It will be interesting to see whether he leads from the front with the bat or not. If he does so and accumulates a lot of runs, his comeback to the national team won’t be impossible.

3. Navdeep Saini

As a bowler who can bowl at a speed of 145 kph or more consistently, Navdeep Saini showed some really good promise in the early part of his brief international career. His issues with the ball aggravated in the IPL 2020, where he picked just 6 wickets from 13 games and conceded 379 runs at an ordinary economy of 8.30.

He also had a poor outing in the ODI series in Australia. Due to the emergence of T Natarajan as the death overs specialist alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Saini is not being considered in the playing XI these days. Also, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur have been doing well. So, the road for Navdeep Saini seems nothing but tough. He has to perform exceptionally well for RCB this season in order to ensure his existence in the Indian team.

2. Yuzvendra Chahal

Another headache for the Indian team right now is the ineffectiveness of their premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. In the last 5 T20I series he has played, Chahal has an overall economy of 9.40 and has picked 12 wickets from 14 matches. In the recently concluded T20I series against England, he was dropped after being smashed by the Englishmen in the first three T20Is and Rahul Chahar was preferred over him in the next two T20Is.

There is absolutely no doubt on his abilities; he can win games on his own for his side on any given day, but needs some wickets to get his rhythm back. He is the lead spinner of RCB and is definitely going to play all the 14 games for them and he has to make the most out of it to become the leader of the Indian spin attack once again.

1. KL Rahul

Although nobody has ever raised a doubt on his stroke playing ability all around the park, the recent approach of KL Rahul to batting in a T20 match has certainly let the Indian team as well as his fans down. He was a beast in the IPL as well as internationals till 2018 as his numbers suggest.

Since 2019, he has amassed runs, but with a lower strike rate. His strike rate was a moderate 135.39 in IPL in 2019, which further reduced to a mere 129.34 in 2020.

He got a string of low scores including 3 ducks in the last 5 T20Is he played. Also, the emergence of Ishan Kishan has certainly posed a challenge to his position as the first choice opener in the Indian T20I team. Therefore, he needs to modify his approach slightly and maximize the benefits of the field restrictions in the first six overs by playing some aggressive cricket like once he used to play.

The upcoming IPL will provide him the opportunity to express himself to the greatest extent and he has to capitalize on that to ensure his place as the first choice opener alongside Rohit Sharma in the T20I team.

What’s your say? Should KL Rahul be in India’s first XI for the World Cup? We discussed this on The CricBlog Podcast. Video here.

So, these are the five Indian players who really need a solid IPL performance to regain their confidence and reestablish themselves in the national side. Apart from these guys, there are other young players like Mayank Markande, Ravi Bishnoi, Abdul Samad, Prithvi Shaw etc who would definitely want to present their cases for a national call up by doing well in the IPL.