(Cricket news) After the IPL, India played England in a warm up match for the World T20 and got enough match practice before the game against Pakistan on Sunday. India produced a clinical performance against a top side as they won by 7 wickets, a lot of positives can be taken out of the performance but a few areas of concern are also there that India can improve before the match against Pakistan.
KL Rahul will open with Rohit Sharma
Like we saw in the IPL, KL Rahul has just continued his immaculate form as he scored 51 runs off just 24 balls, he not only played with class and elegance but the main takeaway from yesterday's innings is that he took full advantage of the powerplay. This is a different kind of Rahul as he usually tends to take his time and build his innings, but if this same trend continues then that would mean Rahul will be the aggressor in the beginning and Rohit can take his time and build partnerships with others.
India's bench strength looks strong
A lot of talk was on whether they should drop Ishan Kishan for Shikhar Dhawan but yesterday he defined his selection after a blistering knock of 70 off 46 balls which included three sixes and seven boundaries. With Ishan, it proves that if in the tournament Ravi Shastri feels like going into the match with a left- right opening combination then he knows that Ishan Kishan will do a job out there. As for India’s bench options, they look pretty strong and most of the players look in good touch.
Suryakumar Yadav should bat at no 4
Yesterday we saw Rishabh Pant at no 4 as it looks more likely that he will bat in that position heading into the World Cup as he is the only left handed batsman in the top 6. The Indian team management need Suryakumar to fire in all cylinders as he's a type of player that can win you matches with unorthodox batting style but heading into the tournament his form in the IPL hasn’t been great. The coaches along with Virat Kohli need to send him up the order so that he takes some balls to settle into a groove which will help him get back to his best.
Varun Chakaravarthy looks like the main spinner in the team
Rahul Chahar only picked up a wicket he conceded to many runs and gave away a lot of length balls as the batsman cherished the freebies. He was trying to get the ball to spin off the surface but wasn’t getting much assistance from it, on the other hand Ashwin bowled a straight line and kept the batsman in check. Varun didn’t play the match as he played the IPL final days a few ago but it won't be a surprise that he will get to bowl his full quota of overs against Australia in the next warm match. The reason Varun might get picked as the lead spinner is because he has the element of mystery in his balling which might cause the opposition batsmans some problems.
Also read: India looks to fix batting order in final T20 WC warm-up game Australia
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s form looks like an area of concern
An ever present name on the team sheet, Bhuvi might be struggling this calendar year especially since he hasn’t had a great IPL and it has greatly hampered his confidence. Bhuvi is India's most consistent bowler when it comes to line and length but yesterday he was all over the place as Johnny Bairstow and Moeen Ali took to the raptures as he conceded 54 runs at an economy of 13.5 runs per over. The Indian team management needs to take a decision whether they keep faith in him or replace him with Shardul Thakur or play an extra spinner in his place against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
