With a men’s T20 World Cup coming up later this year in Australia, the Rohit Sharma led Indian team have already begun preparations for the showpiece event. Among the first assignments for the team on that road is playing West Indies in a three-match series in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens in the shortest format.
Will the Indian team look to experiment? Well, captain Rohit calls ‘experimentation’ an over-rated term but said that giving players a sense of security and game time will be of utmost importance for the team management.
"I feel the word experimentation is over-rated, in my terms," he said ahead of Wednesday's first T20I. "We are trying to find those holes that are there in the squad and try and fill that gap. So whatever it takes, we will try and do that.
"All these guys [the fringe players] are very young and haven't played a lot of cricket. We need to give them the assurity and the game time. Once we have that, then we can try out things. Till then, whatever little holes we have in our squad, we have to try and fill that."
However, that KL Rahul and Washington Sundar have been ruled out of the T20 series is a big setback to the Indian team.
New Opening Combination
With no KL Rahul in the mix, India will have to field a new opening combination. Will India try Rohit and Virat Kohli at the top of the order, like they did against England in the home series last year? While that could be one way of going about things, it is likely that Rohit will want to have a left and right hand opening combination, paving the way for an explosive Ishan Kishan to open with the skipper.
India’s other option at the top of the order would be all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, who made most of his time as an opener in KKR last season in the IPL. However, in the Indian team, he has been preferred as a middle-order batter.
India also have Ruturaj Gaikwad added to the squad, and the dashing right-hander is yet another option to pick from for Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid.
The Return of Kul-Cha?
It has been quite a while since the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have bowled together in the India colours. While Kuldeep has only just returned to fold and had a decent outing in the third ODI against WI, Chahal’s turn of form started off just before the World Cup last year, in the second phase of the IPL.
The duo were exceptional before a bad dip in form forced them out of the side. However, with Rohit making it clear that they would receive the support, it is likely that the two spinners’ spots will go to them in the absence of Washington Sundar.
Or will there be a debut for young Ravi Bishnoi?
Avesh or Harshal to Get the Nod?
With none of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the squad for the WI series, the pace attack wears a new look. Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who received criticism for his recent ODI performances, and Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar, the India team also have in their ranks the likes of Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel.
Both had superb campaigns in the last IPL and will be confident of doing well if handed a chance. While Avesh has been talked about in terms of an India berth for a while, Harshal too has been in the reckoning.
It is unlikely India will want to field an inexperienced attack against a batting that can be dangerous on their day. But expect Rohit to call upon the services of at least one of Avesh and Harshal in the first T20I.
Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohd Siraj/Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav.
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