Asia

India’s practice match report card: KL Rahul, Ishaan Chamke, Kohli out of touch

October 18, 2021
Henry Club

The first of India’s two practice games in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue ended in chasing England188/5 of which six balls are left. by half century KL Rahul (51 in 24 balls) and Ishan Kishan (70 off 46 balls) registered a six-wicket win. India’s next warm-up match is against Australia on Wednesday. As for Monday’s game, here are five things we learned:

Opening combination is fixed

India was searching Rohit SharmaOpening partner in the shortest format. Ishan Kishan teamed up with Rohit in the home T20 against England earlier this year. Virat Kohli, too, had opened in the fifth T20I and expressed a desire to repeat it in the T20 World Cup. But on Monday, at the time of the toss, the India captain spoke of Rohit and KL Rahul being the team management’s choice as openers. “Things were different before IPL. Now it is difficult to look beyond KL Rahul (626 runs in IPL). He’s already been solid. I will bat at (number) 3,” Kohli said. Rohit didn’t play the game, but Rahul was there as a promoter.

heartfelt puzzle

Hardik Pandya did not bowl once again. The question mark over his bowling fitness apparently prompted the selectors to change teams in the eleventh hour, bringing in Shardul Thakur in the squad. Axar Patel. Hardik is seen as a finisher in this team. After this, if the team does not bowl again, the balance of the team gets disturbed. It was only a practice match, but India did not have a sixth bowling option. Bhuvneshwar Kumar Lots going on. Also, Chennai Super Kings successfully used Ravindra Jadeja As a finisher in IPL and with 360 degree batsman in middle order in Suryakumar Yadav Rishabh PantThe team management will have to decide whether playing Hardik only as a batsman will be a luxury. Shardul can come in as a seam bowling all-rounder.

Kumar has to decide his length

Kumar has more of a natural length as a swing bowler. But the conditions in the UAE are negating swing and as was evident in the IPL, bowlers with a length of six to eight meters served well. Despite Kohli’s praise, Kumar has been consistently struggling to hit hard lengths. On Monday, he conceded eight runs in his first over and 21 runs in his last over.

Chahar as an attacking alternative

Looking ahead to Monday’s game, Kohli is set to use Rahul Chahar as a wicket-taking substitute. Don’t read too much into the leggy figures, 1/43. Chahar bowled some really good deliveries and one of them dismissed David Malan. Almost throughout his bowling spell, Kohli kept a slip through the leg-spinner, proving his intention to attack in the middle overs.

Kohli needs to hit his strap

India need their best batsman to win the title, but Kohli once again did not seem to be in rhythm. He tried to pass the time in the middle, mostly moving the ball around before being dismissed for 11 off 13 balls. He is a big game player, but a few runs against Australia will be a confidence booster.

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