How can India fit in Kuldeep Yadav?

India go into the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup 2024 with an unblemished record, having won all three completed games in the group stage. While they played all their matches in the USA, the conditions and the wickets in the Caribbean paint quite a different story, as some of the matches have already shown. As a result, it would not be all that surprising to see them make a few tweaks going into the next leg of the tournament. Let's explore some of them.

Also Read: What to expect from each venue in the Super 8s?

Jaiswal in, Kohli at three?

India have opened with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the group stages, which has not worked out. The first wicket has yielded the side a total of just 35 runs, with a best of 22. India might thus consider getting Yashasvi Jaiswal back in the XI, with Kohli dropping down to three. 

Kohli has tasted a lot of success at three, and given that he has registered scores of 1, 4 and 0 opening the innings in this T20 World Cup so far, it may not be a bad option to have him bat in a position where he has scored the bulk of his runs. 

What that effectively would mean is Rishabh Pant would drop down to five, while Shivam Dube will drop out of the starting XI.

The drawback of this would be that the side will miss Dube's spin-hitting abilities on surfaces that are bound to suit him. But it might be the risk India may have to take if they want to sort their opening issues and also get Kohli back among the runs.

How can India fit in Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal?

In his press conference on June 19 (Wednesday), India head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that his wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal could be in action sooner rather than later. Of course, the management will make the call based on the conditions. Moreover, in the Caribbean, they also have the wind to contend with when picking the final XI. 

India play their Super 8s matches in Barbados, Gros Islet and Antigua, where spin has not fared particularly well. However, India have given Mohammed Siraj a go in all three matches on bowling-friendly surfaces in the US and has returned with just one wicket to his name in three matches. That's where one of Kuldeep or Chahal could be given a go. What works in their favour is that wrist spinners have had an impact in all their three Super 8s venues. 

In Barbados, wrist spinners have accounted for 14.03% of the wickets wickets. This figure stands at 13.04% in St Lucia and 21.56% in Antigua. While they may not strike as regularly as the pacers, they have certainly had an impact at these venues, which could tempt India to field either Kuldeep or Chahal in place of Siraj, with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya being their main pacers.

Does Jadeja warrant a place?

Ravindra Jadeja has played just one ball and bowled just three overs in this T20 World Cup so far. Given that all of India's matches were played in the US, Jadeja was paired with Axar Patel to add more teeth to the batting. 

However, that could change if India want to bring back Kuldeep or Chahal without compromising on their pacers. In that case, Kuldeep might be paired with Axar Patel in the spin department. Axar has also shown that he is capable of adapting anywhere in the batting order. And he has been clinical with the ball, having picked up three wickets from his six overs in the tournament so far. 

If India decide to go in with the aforementioned combination, they would further strengthen their spin department with one of Kuldeep or Chahal coming in.

However, a major con of this particular combination would be the side effectively having no batting after No.7. In this combination, India's numbers eight to eleven would be Kuldeep, Arshdeep, Bumrah and Siraj.

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