The Australian openers Sam Billings or Aaron Finch can be a good option at the top alongside Prithvi Shaw. Both play attacking cricket and can complement each other. Finch also has the quality of anchoring an innings as well. Billings is another option. He can bat at any position and is a gun fielder and a keeper as well. He will thus cover three facets of the game.
Manish Pandey has proved his mettle for the franchises he has played for in the IPL> He might not have had a consistent run in the Indian team but is more than a handy option with the bat in the middle-order. He is an asset to any team with his fielding credentials as well. Another option is England’s, Dawid Malan. In his short international career, he achieved the top rankings in T20 cricket and proved his mettle in the format as well.
While Adam Zampa is a leg-spinner, Agar is an off-spinner. The franchise can pick and choose the two overseas spinners alongside Axar Patel who is a consistent option. Amit Mishra was another spinner who was released by the franchise. He was not given games regularly in the latter stages of his career and might not be taken back again.
Natarajan and Cummins give different but useful options for the Capitals. The Australian pacer can be Anrich Nortje’s backup in the long run and Natarajan gives a good left-arm option for the franchise. Natarajan is recovering well from his knee injury and can attract bidders in the mega auction given his accuracy at bowling yorkers.
Both Shakib Al Hasan and Kyle Jamieson are very different kinds of all-rounders but can provide a great balance to the side. Shakib apart from being the highest wicket-taker in T20Is is a handy option with the bat. Jamieson, on the other hand, is one of the rising stars of New Zealand cricket. He warmed the benches for most of IPL 2021. With Marcus Stoinis now gone, Jamieson can be the ideal player to replace him. Meanwhile, Shakib will be the fourth spinning option as well in the squad along with Axar Patel, Zampa and Agar.
