Warm-up worries: KL Rahul or Ishan Kishan?

Dubai, October 17

All-rounder Hardik Pandya’s form and some batting positions will be foremost on captain Virat Kohli’s mind as India play England tomorrow in a warm-up match for the T20 World Cup.

With all the Indian players coming into the premier global T20 tournament straight from the IPL, match practice isn’t a problem for Kohli and his men, but it would be a priority for him to get the combination right before the high-profile opening game against Pakistan on October 24.

Against England tomorrow — and in the second warm-up game, against Australia on Wednesday — the team management would want to give more playing time to players who still are not automatic choices for the playing XI, in order to gauge their current form.

Vice-captain Rohit Sharma is a certainty to open the innings but is a tough choice between Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul as his opening partner. Both could be given a fair go at the top of the order to see who is in better touch. Rahul will be the favourite considering that he has the experience of playing pressure matches and is in good form, having amassed 626 runs (including 30 sixes) at a strike-rate of 138.80 in 14 IPL games.

But it is worth mentioning that Rahul’s statistics improved substantially during an inconsequential game against Chennai Super Kings, in which he scored 98 not out off 42 balls. Otherwise, he has not exactly got the move on in the Powerplay overs and has only been able to accelerate towards the end. Kishan was brilliant as Rohit’s opening partner in the last two games as he nearly took Mumbai Indians into the playoffs with two blazing fifties.

Pandya at No. 6?

If Rahul is the team’s choice to open, Kishan just might force Pandya into the No. 6 slot in the batting order, which is ideal for a finisher. For Mumbai Indians, both Pandya and Kishan had underwhelming performances during the UAE leg of the tournament.

Pandya’s inclusion in the XI is debatable as the chances of him bowling at full tilt — or, for that matter, bowling at all — are very little. In this situation, if Kohli wants him in the team, expecting him to perform the role of the finisher, the captain must decide which batting slot would be the best for Pandya. Should it be No. 5, above Rishabh Pant? Or No. 6, where he may get a maximum of some 15 balls to show his prowess?

Bowling options

Similarly, in the spin bowling department, Ravindra Jadeja may have two spinners playing with him and Varun Chakravarthy is all but confirmed if he remains fit. The choice for the third spinner would be between Rahul Chahar’s leg-breaks and Ravichandran Ashwin’s off-breaks.

In his pre-tournament discussion with the media, Kohli praised Chahar for extracting pace off the slow UAE wickets, which has enabled him to keep Yuzvendra Chahal out of the team.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are expected to be the two pacers but if the team plays a spinner less, then all-rounder Shardul Thakur would come in.

For England, a rejuvenated Jos Buttler with his pyrotechnics would hold the key, along with the flamboyant Jason Roy and senior batter Jonny Bairstow. If the IPL is any indicator, on the slow tracks in the UAE, some English players like Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan could struggle. Skipper Eoin Morgan would also like to score a few runs tomorrow after a poor IPL. — PTI

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