PUNE, Mar 25:
The immensely talented Suryakumar Yadav is likely to get a chance to showcase his ‘360 degree’ hitting skills when a rampaging Indian team takes on a rather clueless England, aiming to seal another series victory in the second ODI here tomorrow.
Shreyas Iyer’s dislocated shoulder has once again brought Yadav in focus and his ODI debut, after a blockbuster T20 first outing, looks imminent after an all-round show by the hosts ensured an easy victory in the first game.
Iyer has been one of India’s most prolific 50-over batsman before the COVID-19 enforced lockdown but such is the team’s strength that a debutant looks more formidable for a world champion opposition, who are no less menacing but seem utterly confused at this point.
Being spoilt for choices is always a good headache to have for the think-tank and skipper Virat Kohli will be more pleased than anyone else.
Kohli has not had Ravindra Jadeja’s services for close to three months but neither Axar Patel in Tests, and now Krunal Pandya in the ODIs, have let the team miss their maverick from Rajkot.
Prasidh Krishna, already a household name due to IPL, looked completely at home on his ODI debut, hurrying batsmen for pace in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
“He has a great sense of the game, it’s not just his skill but how he understands and reads the game. He is a very keen learner and he is, like I said, very brave and comes in with a lot of aggression,” said batsman K L Rahul ahead of the match.
And come to think of it, once Jadeja and Bumrah are back, a Krunal or Krishna will either cool their heels in the dug-out or even worse, not find a place in the squad, which is a testimony to India’s unimaginable depth of talent pool.
The biggest positive during the opening game was Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form with a match-winning 98. He was under pressure after being benched for a large part of the T20 series.
The elegant southpaw would be raring to go one more time.
Rohit Sharma had sustained a blow to his elbow during the first match but is expected to be fit in time for the second game.
In case India want to give Rohit a short break, then Shubman Gill can open alongside Dhawan with KL Rahul coming in at his usual middle order slot.
However, as per sources, Rohut is keen to get cracking as it’s not very serious.
It is expected that Pant would play purely as a batsman and Rahul would continue to keep wickets. (PTI)
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