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India are all set to take on Pakistan in the opening match of the T20 World Cup, provided that the rain subsides in Melbourne. All eyes will be on the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to get India the upper hand as far as top order batting is concerned.
Rohit Sharma is supremely elegant but the word “lazy” hasn’t existed in his dictionary for the longest possible time now.
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Out of his 41 international hundreds, 33 has come in ODIs and T20Is and it wouldn’t have been possible had there been an iota of laziness in him.
Forty eight hours before the marquee clash against Pakistan, it seemed Rohit, the skipper at least on the day, made way for Rohit, the batter, who is thinking of how to counter the menacing pace and swing of Shaheen Shah Afridi.
May be that’s the reason, he was trying to focus on not hitting any horizontal bat shots, which is a recipe for disaster against someone like Shaheen, who will not only bowl fast but also swing it late at a brisk pace.
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground nets is slightly different from other stadiums where one can only get a top angle view of the nets and it always seems like players are training at a giant well.
It was an optional net session for the Indian team on Friday and it was the skipper, who became the centre of attention for 30-odd spectators as he entered the arena.
Rohit went through the grind for close to one and half hours along with Dinesh Karthik for company.
While Karthik, India’s designated white-ball finisher, after a normal net session, did a bit of simulation training with some high-risk lap scoop and reverse lap scoop shots and pull-shots, Rohit’s session was way more interesting.
It seemed he was intent on playing within the V’ and while Karthik enjoyed hitting some disdainful pulls, his captain, who is a pioneer of horizontal bat shots, refrained from hitting any.
Meanwhile all eyes will also be on the team combination as there is a considerable doubt if Dinesh Karthik will make the cut or Rishabh Pant. Similarly, there is no confirmation is Ashwin will get a chance or Axar Patel.
Axar Patel enjoyed an intense net session under watchful eyes of coach Rahul Dravid but his spot is still not certain in India’s playing XI since Pakistan are likely to have three left-handers in their line-up in the much-awaited T20 World Cup contest, here on Sunday.
Indian team hasn’t had a settled XI in the last one year, either due to workload management or because of injuries to players that affected the balance of the side.
Friday’s practice session couldn’t be a definitive indicator as to what will be the final playing eleven as most of the senior players opted to rest on the day.
But skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya are certainties and Dinesh Karthik on current form is ahead of Rishabh Pant.
Karthik, after his batting session, did keeping drills for a considerable period of time.
But to be fair to Pant, he is the only left-handed specialist batting option in top six and if both Karthik and Pant are accommodated in the playing XI, then Rohit will be forced to play Pandya as the fifth bowling option, which could backfire on occasions.
(With agencies)
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