India were chasing 338, they lost KL Rahul very early, Virat Kohli joined Rohit Sharma out in the centre, and India meandered away to 28 in the first 10 overs. Yes, Dhoni and Jadhav refused to take off in the final phase, but the game and the word momentum was snatched away. This is what the skipper said and this is what the management to sit down and take a call on.
And in the match against Bangladesh, they will have the chance to right the wrongs, starting with the opening combination. KL Rahul, despite all his promise has struggled to get going and now, the Indian management would be tempted to use Dinesh Karthik as the opener for the match against Bangladesh.
Here is how the Indian side could line up for the match:
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma is a man in form for India – he scored his third century this World Cup, but now has to kick in and take India over the line, especially when the side is chasing. Chasing 338, India could only muster 28/1 in 10 overs with Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli in the middle. The batsman was able to accelerate later on and scored 102 in 107. But his fall was where the collapse began for India.
Dinesh Karthik
This is the match where the Indian side could make a change at the top of the order and give Dinesh Karthik a go as the opener. Rahul has not looked very confident after his innings against Pakistan and in Karthik, India has an experienced campaigner to get the job done up front.
Virat Kohli
Because it’s Virat Kohli, one is used to use a different scale altogether to measure his innings. He has been as prolific as Kohli can be, but, well, has not managed to convert his 50s into 100s and this is one area, he needs to now put all his focus right now.
Rishabh Pant
After all the debates and deliberations, Rishabh Pant finally got a crack and after a frantic start, he did settle down. However, he could not carry on after getting off to a quick start and this is where he needs to improve on in the upcoming games.
MS Dhoni
“I don’t have an explanation for that. You asked me the question but I can’t explain these singles. It’s also the length and the bounce that has deceived the Indian batsmen. You can’t be chasing 338 and still have five wickets in the end,” this is what Sourav Ganguly said during his commentary stint.
Dhoni’s approach has been criticised, but, well, he has the backing of his skipper and he now needs to step up and be the player, we know he can be.
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya pulled things back in the back end with his cutters and conceded 60 runs in 10 overs. He was mighty impressive with the bat and peeled off 45 runs in 33 balls with four boundaries. On a day, when some of the Indian players were slammed hard for lack of intent, Pandya went for the full monty.
Ravindra Jadeja
Kedar Jadhav is not bowling too much and has struggled to inject momentum in the final phases of the innings which could make the Indian management draft in Ravindra Jadeja into the side.
Jadeja has been brilliant all tournament in the field, he will give Kohli 10 solid overs in the middle overs and is also handy with the bat in the latter stages.
Bhuneshwar Kumar
Kuldeep Yadav was smashed for 46 runs in 4 overs. And then he managed to break the opening stand between Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. The dismissal slowed things down and Kuldeep finished with figures of 78/1 in 10 overs. But he needed to restrict the run flow and get more wickets, which he failed to do.
Hence, Kohli could bring in Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the match against Bangladesh. The seamer has slowly got back to fitness and this could be the match which gives the management great hint about his form.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal had a rare off day with the ball as he gave away 88 runs in his 10 overs and could not get any wickets. The leggie registered his worst bowling figures in the match, and failed to curtail runs. The bowler needs to forget this outing, brush it off and learn from his mistakes for this match against Bangladesh as India need their spinners to find their groove in this crucial juncture of the tournament.
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami registered his maiden five-wicket haul, but he was too costly at the same time. The seamer gave away 69 runs in his 10 overs. Questions could be raised if Bhuvneshwar Kumar was playing instead, would he be equipped to slow down run rate in the death overs.
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah has been a delight to watch in this tournament and he was no different against England. The pacer gave away just 8 runs in his four overs, and then came back strong in the death overs to curtail runs. Bumrah gave away just 3 runs and dismissed Ben Stokes in the final over, thus restricting the hosts below 350-run mark.
The only area of concern for him will be the lack of wickets with the new ball in the powerplay and captain Kohli would want his ace pacer to get cracking up front.
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