3 takeaways from Indian captain Rohit Sharma's comments ahead of the Australia T20I series
Rohit Sharma may have won 80% of the T20Is in which he has captained Team India, but he has his task cut out in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.
With India yet to arrive at their best possible combination, Rohit needs to use the T20I series against Australia and South Africa to identify the right roles and personnel before heading Down Under. The first T20I against the Kangaroos, to be played in Mohali on Tuesday, September 20, should give clear indications of the path India intend to take over the next month or two.
Ahead of the Australia series, the Indian skipper attended a press conference in which he addressed a few key questions. Here are three big takeaways from Rohit Sharma's recent comments.
#3 Axar Patel will be given a big role to play
In Ravindra Jadeja's absence, India's balance has taken a major hit. The Men in Blue were looking at using the left-hander up the order, with his bowling and fielding also major aspects of consideration in the T20 World Cup.
There were several ideas as to how India could make up for Jadeja, with various combinations involving R Ashwin and Deepak Hooda being discussed. But India seem set to take a more straightforward route by using Axar Patel as a like-for-like replacement.
Speaking about the all-rounder dilemma, Rohit Sharma said:
"Axar was always part of our plans. We were quite clear that Axar is the guy who can do the job for us. And recently if you saw in West Indies, he batted brilliantly and won the game single-handedly with his batting. He is also a three-phase bowler."
Axar may not be able to bat at No. 4 or No. 5 like Jadeja does, but he could be tried out in certain advanced roles against Australia.
#2 The aggressive template will continue to be implemented
India's Asia Cup campaign saw contrasting powerplays. Although Rohit himself consistently tried to set the tone by playing his shots, his opening partner KL Rahul sometimes decided to play too sedately during the field restrictions.
Speaking about whether India will continue to follow the aggressive template they have chosen to adopt, Rohit Sharma said:
"We will continue to play like that. That is something we spoke about quite clearly right at the beginning. Everyone is quite comfortable with that. At the same time, we know what our second line of defense is. We spend a lot of time talking about these kinds of things."
For his part, Rahul came out and claimed that he is working on changing his strike rate and shot selection to suit the demands of the team.
#1 Rohit and Rahul will open at the T20 World Cup
Virat Kohli's hundred against Afghanistan, combined with the presence of other options, appeared to create a major headache for the team management. Who should open the batting?
Rohit Sharma put the doubts to bed, claiming that he and Rahul are the first-choice openers with Kohli serving as a capable backup. He said:
"KL Rahul, according to me, will play the World Cup, and open. His performances for India tend to go unnoticed. He is a very important player for India. If you look at his record over the last two-three years, it is very good. I have had a chat with Rahul bhai that we will have to open with Virat in some matches because he is our third opener. We saw that in the last match, and we are quite happy with what we saw. I don't think we will experiment for that position a lot."