Mumbai: Waiting in the wings is never easy. You may be racking up the numbers but it’s just not enough to breaking into the team because the place you desperately need is being occupied by someone else. It becomes a battle of attrition. Those who witnessed cricket during the era when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Soura Ganguly know precisely what it means to wait and hope, sometimes without end.

India’s T20 talent pool is overflowing thanks to the Indian Premier League and that has meant that there are many takers for the spots that have become available with the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. However, there are just too many candidates for those openings. Just ask Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma.

The two had good reasons to be optimistic about their selection for the Sri Lanka series after a good run in the IPL and against Zimbabwe.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose the 27-year-old Gaikwad to succeed him as the captain of Chennai Super Kings and that alone should perhaps warrant a serious look by the selectors. Earmarked as the player to keep an eye on ever since he made his IPL debut in 2020, the opening batter has truly lived up to expectations, delivering blockbuster performances season after season in the T20 league. His aggregate of 2380 runs in just five seasons (64 innings) at an average of 41.75 (SR 136.86) shows just how consistent he has been.

Despite not getting to bat in his favoured opening position during the Zimbabwe tour, Gaikwad adjusted well at No. 3 and No. 4. He made runs consistently, and also scored them at a brisk strike rate of 158.33, hitting a 47-ball 77* and 28-ball 49.

Abhishek, too, gave a good account of himself in his debut series in Zimbabwe with both bat and ball. Playing in his fearless, eye-catching style, he smashed a hundred in his second international game and bowled tidy spells of left-arm spin as well.

India has long been desperate to have a top-order batter who can bowl and when that rare commodity comes along, one expects the selectors to jump at the first opportunity to get him on board. Abhishek seems a perfect fit for that role but for now, it seems he must wait a while longer.

Opening the batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad, he took the 2024 IPL by storm by smashing 42 sixes while scoring 484 runs at a strike-rate of 204.44. The IPL show had come after a solid display for Punjab in the national T20 championship, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he powered his state side to their maiden title with 485 runs, with two hundreds and three half-centuries while striking at over 180.

While speaking to the reporters ahead of departing for Sri Lanka, chief selector Ajit Agarkar mentioned how they can only pick 15 players in the squad.

“Every player who’s left out feels hard done by. Our challenge is to pick only 15. You try and get the best balance possible. So, someone’s likely to miss out. Sometimes, they have had decent performances in recent times but you’ve got to see who is picked ahead of them. Are those guys not deserving of their place? If that’s the case, then there are things to discuss,” said Agarkar.

Agarkar gave the example of Rinku Singh who was omitted from India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 squad despite playing exceptionally well in the lead up to the tournament.

“Any player who is dropped will feel hard done by. Look at Rinku (Singh), he performed really well ahead of the T20 World Cup, but couldn’t make the cut. We can only pick 15,” the chief selector said.

It is understood that both Abhishek and Gaikwad are on the selection radar for the future. In the Punjab player’s case, he has time on his hand but at 27, things are getting a bit tight for the Maharashtra batter as the wait to find a permanent spot in the team gets longer.

One thing is for sure, their run of form will keep all the batters in the squad on their toes. Slip up and you know who is waiting in the wings.

Read Also: ind vs nep highlights, women's asia cup 2024: shafali verma smashes career-best 81 as india crush nepal to enter semis