No Kohli, great chance to test depth
OPPORTUNITY India, without key players, will be tested in T20 triseries but it is a great event for fresh faces to shine
few wrinkles. In South Africa, Kohli relinquished his slot to allow Suresh Raina a safe passage back into International cricket. Since it’s a T20 tournament in Sri Lanka also, I’m expecting Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to take turns to bat lower down the order to allow one of the younger players make an impression.
TOP-ORDER ROTATION
In T20, batting opportunities are heavily skewed in favour of the top three, and therefore, it’s important to allow the younger players more time and space with the older hands taking over the tougher job of finishing the innings.
There’s merit in pushing Rishabh Pant to the top of the order and push Raina back to where he’s likely to bat more often, at No 5. Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar are the other two players auditioning for the finisher’s role and, once played, should be given enough chances.
India’s limited-overs pace bowling has relied, sometimes too much, on the BhuvneshwarBumrah combo and their absence will test the next line of resources. For the first time Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur will have to fend for themselves without the help of seniors and that’ll be a good test of their skill set and evolution.
I’m expecting Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to surprise India on more than one occasion and that’s where it’ll be important for the team management and the fans to be patient, for a few losses must not take the focus away from the bigger picture.
COLOMBO:
Tuesday.
Hathurasingha spoke during the practice session. “If you go by the ratings, India is the No 1 team, so they always start ahead of the other teams. Whoever comes, India is a very strong team. With Bangladesh, because of the last series, we probably have a little edge over them mentally.”
India selectors named Rohit Sharma skipper for the T20 tri-series after they rested Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, following the gruelling 50-day tour of South Africa. The Sri Lanka coach said the preparations of the hosts were not going to change.
“Whoever they play on that day, we prepare for them. If the stars are there,