World Cup 2019: One brave change India must make for the game against West Indies
India has emerged as one of the favourites to win the World Cup after some good performances in the tournament so far. The Men in Blue have an opportunity to strengthen their chances of finishing at the top of the standings by beating West Indies on Thursday.
Both the teams are full of superstars and all signs point to an exciting contest. The weather forecast for the match is good, which means that there is a good chance of a full game in Manchester on Thursday. India survived a scare against Afghanistan on Saturday and will definitely be wary of the Windies.
West Indies desperately need a win against India to keep their hopes of making the knockouts alive. While the West Indies have collected just one point from their last five matches, they have shown that they have the quality to do well. If the men from the Carribean can play to their full potential, they can cause huge problems to the Indian team.
It is important for the Indian team to be spot on with the playing XI as the team can't afford any passengers in a match of such magnitude. The team management might have to take some tough decisions, one of those can be to pick Rishabh Pant ahead of Vijay Shankar.
Shankar came into the team as a replacement for Shikhar Dhawan, who had fractured his thumb in the match against Australia. The all-rounder failed to come up with the big hits in the slog overs against Pakistan but he contributed by picking two wickets with the ball.
He failed to convert a good start into a big score against Afghanistan. Shankar didn't get a chance to bowl even when India was under pressure which suggests that Virat Kohli doesn't fully trust his bowling ability.
Inclusion of Rishabh Pant makes a lot of sense as he will provide a new dimension to the batting line-up. The Indian team is full of right-handers and a left-hander will add something new to the batting line-up. The ability of Pant to take the innings forward in the death overs can be a great asset for the team.
The youngster was flown in as a replacement for Shikhar Dhawan. It will be interesting to see whether he gets his chance on Thursday.
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