Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik reckons there will be a change in India’s top order for the five-match T20Is against the West Indies. In the Asian Games, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma opened the innings together whereas Sanju Samson batted at one drop.
However, against Afghanistan, Sooryavanshi was not given his chance as Samson and Abhishek were India’s openers. India is expected to get back to the same opening combination and Karthik reckons the team would need at least two pacers while playing in Indian conditions.
“Not really, because you will need more pacers. There in Japan, we just played one pacer. In India, you will need two pacers, if not three. So, you will definitely not see that (the same batting order). As far as the bowling is concerned, Jasprit Bumrah is rested for this series, it gives him an opportunity to breathe before he goes to New Zealand. You can definitely see the focus of the Indian team is on Test cricket right now. T20 is not something that they are going to put their heart and soul into in terms of looking at what they want because there is a lot of time before the next World Cup,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
India relied on Jasprit Bumrah as the solitary pacer in the Asian Games semifinal and final against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as the pitch was conducive to spin bowling.
India will next take on the West Indies in a five-match T20I series, starting Tuesday.
India’s T20I squad for West Indies series: Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir
