Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri reckons India should include both spinners – Washington Sundar and Axar Patel – in the must-win Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe. The match will be played in Chennai, where the track is expected to be conducive to spinners.
Shastri believes Rinku Singh will need to be dropped from the playing XI. Singh was dismissed for a second-ball duck against South Africa at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Meanwhile, many experts have questioned the team management and selectors for playing Washington Sundar ahead of vice-captain Axar Patel.
Shastri said on ICC Review, “I would say play both. Give yourself that extra option because on a given day, you’re bound to have one bowler who’s going to have an off-day. Like Varun Chakaravarthy against South Africa wasn’t at his best, and he paid the price for it. Which means Rinku Singh might have to miss out. But if he has to come in, he has to come in place of a specialist batter.
“If Axar Patel is playing, he might be batting at 8. You’ve got Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Washington Sundar at 5, 6, and 7. And Axar can go at 5 as well. Now, if eight batters can’t do the job in T20 cricket, then you know something is wrong, especially with that firepower. Where you’re missing out is that you’re not giving yourself that extra option of a bowler, which is important.”
On the other hand, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting said India should think about bringing back Kuldeep Yadav into the starting XI.
“I would just look at who their best 11 is for the conditions in Chennai. If that has Axar Patel in it, then great. If it has Kuldeep Yadav in it, and that’s the other one I would be thinking about bringing back. Because it doesn’t matter if it’s a left-hander or a right-hander with him, as he can bowl to the outside edge of both those batters,” said Ponting (via the aforementioned source).
“Yes, it weakens the batting a little bit. But if seven batters can’t do it for you, it’s very rare that eight can do it for you in this format.”
India will next take on Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Thursday.
