IND vs PAK 2022: Batting depth might force Team India to leave out Shami & Chahal for Pakistan clash
India might delve deep into their resources to lengthen their batting. Off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and seamer Harshal Patel can complete the jigsaw, as India finished their final practice session ahead of their T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan on Sunday.
The bowling department has been under the scanner, coming into the showpiece event. While nine players have been sitting pretty on the team sheet, there are question marks over two of the five specialist bowlers.
In the spin section, Ashwin and leggie Yuzvendra Chahal are fighting for a solitary spot. Congruently, it’s a two-horse race between Harshal and Mohammad Shami for pace. The three who have all but confirmed their berth are seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh, and left-arm orthodox Axar Patel. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be the sixth bowling option.
Why Ashwin over Chahal, even though the former has played just 14 T20Is since 2017? Simply because, he can extend India’s batting. Similar can be said about Harshal Patel. Moreover, the 36-year-old Ashwin can also be deployed as a floater, as a circuit breaker.
And if the Saturday nets were anything to go by, the proceedings are in favour of them making the cut. Both are decent with the bat, as compared to the sitting ducks that Shami and Chahal are. Not to forget, Shami is terribly short on gametime. He was supposed to bowl all four overs in the second warm-up game against New Zealand, but it was washed out.
Ashwin’s first delivery of the surprisingly sunny afternoon was sent down an empty net. The ball turned sharply, thus eliciting loud cheers from the packed practice arena. Virat Kohli, who was the first one in, swapped nets with KL Rahul. The opener wanted to face Ashwin and the throwdown specialists. After a brief spell, however, the Chennai lad moved to the net on the other extreme. India’s middle-order mainstay Suryakumar Yadav was challenged by the spin duo of Ashwin and Chahal.
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: @srinjoysanyal07 That cover drive by Virat Kohli! 😍🤤
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Notably, none of the five squad players who had opted for the optional session the previous day did the hard yards on Saturday. They were all out on the ground, doing fitness and fielding drills. Captain Rohit Sharma did go into one of the nets, albeit without his gear, just for a brief bout of knocking.
Back to Ashwin. He had an extensive session, bowling to Surya and then Rishabh Pant. He then went out, padded up, and walked back in again. He didn’t face any of the bowlers, but with standby member Shardul Thakur playing umpire, he underwent an intense slogging exercise against throwdowns.
In IPL 2022, Ashwin scored 191 runs at a healthy average and strike-rate of 27.29 and 141.48, respectively. Ashwin was heard setting imaginary fields, while being really particular about wides and confronting Thakur about the same. Even bowling coach Paras Mhambrey chipped in to hit the hard length.
On the other hand, it was as if Harshal Patel was following in Ashwin’s footsteps. After bowling in the same net as the veteran spinner, the 31-year-old put on his batting gear to deploy the long handle. And he wasn’t done there.
Harshal seems as studious as Rahul Dravid. After having a chat and getting some inputs from the head coach, he went to the track on which the pace battery was earlier operating. There, he asked the left-arm throwdown guy to direct underarm throws at his helmet, which he would flat-bat with disdain. The support staff member was soon spotted asking for his own helmet. The exercise now: land half-volleys for Harshal to strike big.
After an intense nets, Virat Kohli is out in the middle of the G. Team India undergoing some light fielding drills. @Sportskeeda
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Match-ups have been increasingly dictating terms in T20 cricket. And Ravichandran Ashwin has an unrivalled record against southpaws. What would light up his eyes is, Pakistan have got two of them in their line-up. While Shan Masood and Mohammad Nawaz are sure starters, having Khushdil Shah in the mix would have Ashwin smacking his lips.
In the 8 T20Is that Ashwin has played this year, he has taken 5 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.84. Meanwhile, Chahal has conceded 8.12 runs an over in his last 8 T20Is, while scalping 8 victims. In the sample space, Ashwin has also bowled more - 32 overs as compared to Chahal's 26.2. While it can be argued that Ashwin largely plays second fiddle and aims to contain runs, he can gleefully toss it up bearing in mind the big boundaries at the MCG.
As for Harshal Patel, he is one of the two proven death bowlers along with left-armer Arshdeep Singh. Taking a cue from the warm-up match against the hosts, Shami can be relied upon as well. But given his effectiveness with the new ball and Bhuvneshwar’s woes at the death, Rohit would be leaning towards using a major chunk of them both upfront. While Harshal’s recent numbers are far from impressive – economy rate of 10.45 since the Ireland tour – he too can use the big grounds to his advantage.
This would, however, be no set combination for the tournament. As Rohit Sharma reiterated in his pre-match press conference, Team India would be taking one game at a time.
Full list of India matches at T20 World Cup 2022
October 23: India vs Pakistan - Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne - 1.30 pm IST
October 27: India vs Netherlands - Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney - 12.30 pm IST
October 30: India vs South Africa - Perth Stadium, Perth - 4.30 pm IST
November 2: India vs Bangladesh - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide - 1.30 pm IST
November 6: India vs B1 - Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne - 1.30 pm IST