On the face of it, there’s no reason to tinker with a winning combination. India finally looked to have found the right ‘template’ for the T20 World Cup, although it probably came two games too late.
India’s win against Afghanistan oozed dominance in terms of a victory margin of 66 runs. But some areas still weren’t up to the mark.
As far as pace bowling is concerned, nobody has hit his straps yet except Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Shami’s performance improved against Afghanistan, but Shardul Thakur was once again leaky. The two overs that Hardik Pandya bowled, he hardly looked be in good rhythm.
So there’s room for alterations in the bowling department, creating an outside chance to draft in an extra spinner at the expense of a fast bowler.
Varun Chakravarthy’s net session on the match eve was interesting. He went through fitness drills followed by a bowling stint at the nets. Is he in the team management’s scheme of things for the Scotland game? It might not be a bad idea, given the Associate nation’s unfamiliarity with mystery spin. Batsmen at a rung below the top level are usually susceptible against quality spin. Also, three spinners template worked well for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL here a month ago.
Varun for Shardul will weaken lower-order batting. But against Scotland, top-order and middle-order should do the job.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is another option that India have. Dropped after the Pakistan game, Scotland could be a good opportunity to give the medium pacer some game time, helping him regain his confidence.
All said and done, it’s very likely that India will go unchanged. For Scotland, the ICC has approved batsman Michael Jones as the injured Joshua Davey’s replacement.
India likely XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Scotland likely XI: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Brad Wheal
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
