T20 World Cup 2022: "That is one area which is a huge concern" - Gautam Gambhir on what should be India's focus points
Gautam Gambhir has picked India's spinners' inability to pick up wickets as their biggest concern heading into the business end of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
The Men in Blue will face Zimbabwe in a must-win game in Melbourne on Sunday (November 6). They will likely face either England or Australia in the semi-finals if they win that clash against the Chevrons.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his views on what India's focus should be going ahead in the tournament. He responded:
"If there is one concern, it is your spin bowling, because your spinners have not picked up wickets. That is one area which is a huge concern because if you don't pick up wickets in the middle overs, and if you are playing against England in the semi-final, it can come back to hurt you."
Gambhir wants the team management to play Yuzvendra Chahal instead of Ravichandran Ashwin. The former India opener reasoned:
"If India are missing anything, it is a wrist-spinner. They should play a wrist-spinner. You are playing Ashwin because he will give you a little bit of batting, but you need that batting only if you don't score runs at the top."
Gambhir pointed out that all pitches in the upcoming games assist leg-spinners. He explained:
"So play Chahal, Melbourne is a big ground. After that, if you play in Sydney, he will get help there as well, and the way Ish Sodhi bowled today in Adelaide. If you see the performance of wrist-spinners in this entire tournament, they have performed exceptionally well - Shadab Khan, Adam Zampa.
Reason why he pipped Chahal to a spot in the playing XI.
With Harshal Patel falling out of favour, India needed someone who can hit at No.8 and Ashwin was ideal especially after his performances with the bat in IPL 2022 for RR. twitter.com/CricCrazyJohns…
Chahal is yet to play a game in the T20 World Cup. While Ashwin has been part of the playing XI in all four games, Axar Patel has missed just one game, where Deepak Hooda was included at his expense against South Africa to add a bit more depth to the batting.
"The top four have scored runs sometime or the other" - Gautam Gambhir on India's batting department
Gambhir reckons India do not have any concerns in the batting department. He elaborated:
"They have not played bad cricket. The top four have scored runs sometime or the other. Virat Kohli is in good form. KL Rahul has scored runs. Rohit Sharma has scored a fifty in this tournament, and Suryakumar Yadav is in excellent form."
T20 World Cups in 
2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣4️⃣
2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣
That's now 3️⃣ T20 World Cups in 4️⃣, that @imVkohli has had an Average of more than 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 🤯
#PlayBold #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup #ViratKohli https://t.co/PfTHpsIvBw
Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav have been India's star performers with the bat in the tournament. Although KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have scored a half-century apiece, they will need to be more consistent if the inaugural T20 World Cup champions wish to win their second global title in the game's shortest format.