Set for test run before big fight
LONG SUMMER With the drawn out England series ahead, India keen to get combination right in T20s versus Ireland starting today
DUBLIN: It’s the dress rehearsal before the actual test but India would do well not to let the guard down when they take on a lowly but effervescent Ireland in a twomatch T20 rubber, starting Wednesday.
The games will mark the onset of a long summer for the Indian team, with sterner tests against England to follow this short series in Malahide on the outskirts of Dublin. England have just hammered Australia in an ODI series and most of their top players are in sublime form.
Perhaps it was a marker of this crucial impending assignment that India decided to stay on and practice in London on Monday.
While the contingent had arrived from Delhi on Saturday, this was a first training session on-tour, held at the Merchants Taylor School cricket ground.
Reportedly, the players were split into three groups while practising all facets of the game.
Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar headed the pace group along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya, while a few others practised fielding drills. Among batsmen, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan enjoyed a first stint together.
Skipper Virat Kohli and the in-form KL Rahul batted together in adjacent nets against spin and pace respectively. While Rahul has been a constant part of the T20I squad, Ajinkya Rahane’s omission from the ODI squad means that he is once again a contender for the number four spot when the threematch series against England begins on July 12. Since the tour of South Africa, this is the first time a full-strength Indian team will be seen in action.
Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni were rested for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka in March. The former trio also missed the oneoff Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru recently.
With Rahul in contention for a starting spot in the middle order, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik will be left jostling for two spots.
As part of the full-strength Indian side, the three had featured in the T20 series against South Africa. Raina had been used as a pinch-hitting, aggressive number three option, but the current situation might warrant a rethink. Nevertheless, Raina provides a sixth bowling option as well. India would also not want to drop Dinesh Karthik, who is in sizzling form since March.
It could mean that Pandey eventually warms the bench, despite scoring 255 runs in 8 T20Is this year against South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at an average of 85.
On the bowling front, Kohli will be tempted to field both legspinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, giving them an early taste of conditions here.
However, the pace department is an area of concern, as the second-choice fast bowlers have not enjoyed enough game time.