NEW DELHI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal
will strive to contribute to the team's combination puzzle with a valuable performance, while
Arshdeep Singh
and
Mohammed Siraj
must showcase their best efforts during India's sole
T20 World Cup
warm-up match against Bangladesh before their tournament opener on June 5.
Despite all 15 players being regular starters for their respective IPL teams, the squad boasts an abundance of talent.
However, discovering the optimal combination will be crucial to ending India's 11-year international trophy drought.
In the warm-up game, it is anticipated that all 14 players, except for Virat Kohli, who is expected to arrive sometime before the practice match, will be given an opportunity to play, as the game does not have official status. This will provide a chance to assess each player's form after most of the core team members enjoyed a two-week break.
Captain Rohit Sharma and departing head coach Rahul Dravid will need to make two critical decisions. Even if Jaiswal is in good form, integrating him into the team will be challenging, as it would require leaving out a power-hitter like Shivam Dube from the playing XI.
It is a foregone conclusion that Jaiswal might have to sit out, allowing Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to open the batting. This decision could also create an opportunity for Dube to feature later in the tournament.
"Shivam Dube is a six-hitting machine. He can be the 'x-factor' in the T20 World Cup. But if Shivam has to be in the XI, then you can't play Yashasvi. Rohit has to take that call and I prefer both pace-bowling all-rounders in the XI. If Shivam plays, he can take on the opposition wrist spinners in the latter half," Suresh Raina, one of India's premier T20 batters of his time, said on Friday when asked about a possible combination.
India's second challenge will be identifying
Jasprit Bumrah
's opening pace-bowling partner. Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj have been inconsistent in the IPL, and their performances have not met expectations.
RP Singh, a key player in India's victory in the first edition, believes that
Hardik Pandya
's four overs will be crucial. Furthermore, he suggests that Arshdeep should be the second frontline pacer on the newly-installed drop-in pitch.
Discussing the ideal length to bowl on the US pitches during early morning starts, Singh emphasized the importance of variations, which make Arshdeep a better bet compared to Siraj.
"As per my understanding, there should be a bit of slowness in the wicket. So, the ideal length will be somewhere around just short of good length. There will not be a lot of swing for the bowlers but the bowlers with variations, not only yorkers but also slower ones, leg and off cutters...," RP replied to a PTI query during a promotional event in Delhi.
"These deliveries will be utilised a bit more by Arshdeep, so the success rate will be automatically higher for him and that's what I understand the wickets in the US," he explained.
Facing Bangladesh on a pitch that offers less pace, India's middle-order batsmen will be tested by the spin duo of
Shakib Al Hasan
and Mahedi Hasan. Additionally, they will need to find answers to the variations posed by cutter master Mustafizur Rahaman.
(With PTI inputs)
English (US) ·