India face Australia in search of ideal playing XI before T20 WC
The Indian cricket team will continue their search for an ideal playing XI before the all-important Men’s T20 World Cup when they take on a well-balanced Australian side in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium on Tuesday.
India’s lacklustre campaign at the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 had raised some serious questions but the selectors have picked up almost the same squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The continuity of similar faces shows that skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid and selectors have not pressed the panic buton yet and trusting the boys to come good in upcoming matches.
However, the team management will still look to fix some issues and try out a few more things in order to finalise their best possible eleven.
As far as the bating is concerned, the top four consisting of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav pick themselves up automatically, and Hardik Pandya with his valuable all-round ability, is also a sure-shot starter.
The biggest question is who will play as the wicket-keeper -- Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik?
During the Asia Cup, Karthik started as India’s first-choice wicket-keeper but injury to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja forced the team management to bringinlet-handerpant,whodidn’tlookconvincing and so far hasn’t been able to justify his talent in T20I cricket like the Test and ODIS.
The idea to use a let-handed bater in the middle overs was to counter the let-arm spinner,
The continuity of similar faces shows that skipper Rohit, head coach Rahul Dravid and selectors have not pressed the panic buton yet and trusting the boys to come good in upcoming matches
Fance
Pes and Australia also have a similar bowler in Ashton Agar. So, Pant can get the preference over Karthik, who is known for his finishing prowess.
Despite being a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, Axar Patel didn’t get a game at the Asia Cup. Deepak Hooda, who can bowl a few overs and gives captain an extra option, got the opportunity to play but he wasn’t used in the bowling at all.
Also, Hooda’s success has mostly come as a top-order bater but he was given the job to finish the innings in the multi-team event in Dubai.
So, it will be interesting to see whether Dravid and Rohit show confidence in the all-round ability of Axar or once again Hooda gets the nod.
On the other hand, India’s bowling atack will be bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshalpatel.bothbumrahandharshalhadmissed the Asia Cup 2022 due to injuries and they will be keen to make their mark and get into the groove during the three-match series.
Ater being expensive in back-to-back matches againstpakistanandsrilanka,bhuvneshwarkumar finished his Asia Cup campaign on a high with a superb performance against Afghanistan, and he will hope to continue that.
Team India also might give a chance to Umesh Yadav, who has replaced Md Shami in the squad.
The likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin are the spin options apart from Axar.
Overall, India’s playing XI in the first match will give a bit of clarity on their thinking and approach for the World Cup.
WILL TAKE VERY BRAVE MAN TO WRITE VIRAT KOHLI OFF, SAYS FINCH: Australia T20I skipper Aaron Finch on Monday said one would have to be a very, very brave man to write off talismanic bater Kohli at any stage in the game.
Finch went to on call what Kohli, the former India captain, has achieved in his international cricket career as “just ridiculous”.
“You’d be a very, very brave man to write off Virat at any stage. He has shown for 15 years now, that he is one of the greatest players of all time. Particularly in T20 cricket, he is someone who has developed his game and grown his game over for such a long period.”
“You are always trying to prepare to the best of your ability when you are coming up against Virat. He is superb, 71 international hundreds, that is just ridiculous, isn’t it?” said Finch in a virtual press conference on the eve of first T20I.
Finch-led Australia will miss the services of Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh for the entire series.
Starc (knee), Marsh (ankle) and Stoinis (side) will all stay home due to their ‘minor’ injuries, alongside David Warner who had been already rested from making the trip. Finch also lavished praise on uncapped power hiter Tim David.