The Indian Premier League is in great focus when it comes to selecting Indian squads for white-ball cricket. From its inception in 2008, it has been a stage for the local players to impress and quite a few of them have used the tournament that runs for around two months to get their international breaks.

IPL cannot be the sole criteria, but gives a fair indication of the players’ form and suitability for specific roles, especially in the rapidly transforming T20 format. With the deadline for squad announcement for the T20 World Cup falling bang in the middle of the league, the debate is raging over who should make it for the tournament to be played in the West Indies and USA.

Current form or past record, experience and proven class or the ability to pack batting power and bowling smarts, the Ajit Agarkar-led committee will weigh all these aspects in finalising the squad. But ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to name the squad, it is exciting to see who could make the cut if IPL performance was the sole criterion.

As per an analysis of IPL performances by CricViz, the in-form, impact openers are Virat Kohli (RCB), Abhishek Sharma (SRH), KL Rahul (LSG) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) (see graphic). For batters, instead of focusing solely on the runs, the analysis considered a combination of runs scored, average and strike rate. For instance, Abhishek hasn’t scored as many runs as Kohli and Gaikwad, but his strike rate is a much higher 215 thanks to his six-hitting ability. The strike rate of the other three openers is in the 140s.

In the middle-order, CSK's big-hitting Shivam Dube has the most runs, at a strike rate of 172. MI’s Tilak Varma, PBKS’ Shashank Singh and RR’s Riyan Parag have also excelled. Shashank, 32, is a late bloomer. He has just 263 runs in nine innings but at a great strike rate of 182.63.

Among keeper-batters, the analysis has RR’s Sanju Samson and RCB’s Dinesh Karthik, who are ahead of DC’s Rishabh Pant in terms of run tally (371). Samson has 385 runs, and at a higher average of 77 and a strike rate of 161.08. And he has done the job in the tough late stages of the innings.

Among pacers, Jasprit Bumrah is the leader of the pack while T Natarajan and Sandeep Sharma have delivered more impactful performances when wickets taken, average and economy rate are taken together, instead of just focusing on the wickets column.

As their numbers show, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been the best spinners.

IMPACT PLAYERS

The key to a winning combination lies in finding the right balance and the selectors can analyse the template of the successful IPL sides. The best teams have been those with batters who are excellent finishers, boosting the run rate even on difficult tracks.

GT, CSK and MI used this approach in their title runs. GT had two proven finishers in Rahul Tewatia and David Miller, and added Shahrukh Khan in the last auction. Miller has been subdued this season but in their 2022 title run, Tewatia and Miller played pivotal roles.

Defending champions CSK have Dubey and MS Dhoni. And during their dominating run, MI had superb lower-order hitters in Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. If one failed, either of the other two went after the bowlers.

It was essentially the late boost that helped them win the titles. It remains to be seen how the pitch conditions will be in the US, but on slow pitches in the Caribbean, finding the boundaries could be difficult. You need six-hitters like the Caribbean, Australian and South African players who can change the game in one over.

RINKU-DUBE COMBO

KKR’s Rinku Singh may not have the numbers this IPL, aggregating only 112 runs at 22.40, but he looks like an automatic pick. If they go by IPL’s successful template, the selectors will prioritise finishers over top-order batters. Dube and Rinku Singh playing together can have an impact like Miller and Tewatia had with Titans in 2022.

With KKR’s top-order, led by Sunil Narine, firing on all cylinders, opportunities have been limited for the left-handed batter. Thus, his role has been limited to cameos. He has four 20s, including a 16-ball 24, 8-ball 26, 9-ball 20* and a 16-ball 24. However, his international record stands out. In 15 T20Is, he averages 89 with a strike rate of 176.23.

Apart from their explosive batting, Dube and Rinku also provide the left-hander’s advantage to unsettle the bowler’s line. Their combination was played in India’s last T20 series against Afghanistan -- Dube at No.4 and Rinku at No.6-7. The Mumbai left-hander emerged Player-Of-The Series.

In IPL teams, there are so many options from around the world when it comes to top-order picks. The rare commodity is the finisher. It's why Indian batters with finishing skills are in such high demand at the auction table.

Read Also: jay shah and bcci selectors to discuss hardik's place in ahmedabad, india's t20 wc squad to be unveiled soon: report