NEWS
Follow UsRight before the biggest game of the tournament, which is scheduled to take place in less than 24 hours from now in New York, the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has revealed some interesting information regarding team selection for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
While India were always sure of Suryakumar Yadav’s ability to bat at number three, the presence of three right-handers at the top (with Rohit and Virat Kohli opening) will open them to be exploited against negative matchups of left-arm/leg spin and left-arm pace.
Pakistan have both in their bowling attack with Imad Wasim bowling accurate left-arm spin and Shaheen Afridi running in with his left-arm pace from the other end.
Under these circumstances, the selection and playing of Rishabh Pant at the number three spot solves India’s many problems at the top of the order. That’s why Rohit kept a close eye on Pant throughout the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I had to look at Rishabh's just a few games in the IPL to make up my mind where he's going to bat in the World Cup. And when I saw him the first half of the tournament, I was really happy and clear that this is where he's going to bat,” Rohit said in the pre match press conference.
“And yeah, with a player like him, the kind of ability he has, it's always tough to find the right number for a player like him. But I thought for us, particularly when we have three right-handers in the top four, it's nice to have him in the middle, where I think later on, when we move ahead in the tournament, the spin is going to play a big part, where his counterattacking can come into picture in a big way.
Since we don't have Jaiswal at the top, we wanted somebody in the middle who can just go and play freely. And Rishabh, I thought, is a guy, and I've seen enough of him over these five, six years now to know what his strengths are.
Obviously, there is a little bit of weakness as well. But I would like to focus on the strength as of now. And I think he's got an all-round game. And we want to utilise that up front, where he gets to play maximum balls along with some other experienced players.”
However, skipper Rohit also stressed the need to be flexible and made it clear that apart from the openers, none of the batters have been given a fixed batting position in the eleven. Matchups, the match situation, and the batters’ numbers around that particular entry point, Rohit mentioned, will decide the batting order for India.
“Besides the openers, none of the guys' positions are fixed as such,” the Indian skipper clarified.
“We want to be very flexible in that, and the message has been given to them very clearly about it, that only the openers will stay stagnant unless it's a super over or it's a five-over game. But otherwise, the openers will stay the same.
From number three onwards till number seven, we want to be flexible and think about the right matchup. Certain guys love certain entry points in the game, so we want to think about all of those and then try and head into the game.”
Unlike India, Pakistan are coming off a bad run of form in T20I cricket, having lost their last three games in the format. Moreover, with the administrative musical chair in Pakistan cricket on and off the field, there’s a thick air of uncertainty and inconsistency around the entire setup.
In that light, and given that Pakistan haven’t had a taste of the New York pitch unlike India, who have played two games on the surface, the match begins with India as firm favourites. However, Rohit preferred to dwell on the uncertainty of the format and felt that regardless of their form, both teams would have to be at their best to win the ultimate encounter against their archrivals.
“This [uncertainty of results] is the specialty of T20 cricket. Anything can happen anywhere,” the Indian opener remarked.
“Last year, in the last World Cup, Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe. But eventually, they played the final. So, this format is such that you can't be light here. You can't think much about the opposition, about what the opposition's form is. It doesn't take long for the form to come in this format.
T20 cricket is such that you can't think much about the opposition that they lost the last match. So, it's not necessary that you'll lose this match and play lightly. You have to play your cricket well, and that’s what I tell my team to focus on: how to play cricket, how to play good cricket, and what we have to do as a team.”
Currently, India are at the second in group A with one win. If they win against Pakistan, they’ll have equal points as the USA and will top the group.
Meanwhile, if Pakistan loses this game, it would be their second loss on the trot, and then they would have to depend on other results to make it to the Super Eight stage of the tournament.
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