India’s chance to give more game time to claimants

NT Correspondent

With the number of claimants increasing heading into T20 World Cup, there will be no let-up in India’s willingness to experiment or their intensity in the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka, beginning in Lucknow on Thursday.

Coming off a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies, the in-form Indians will look to do an encore against the visiting Sri Lankans, and the Rohit Sharma-led squad has a realistic chance of achieving that.

But the endeavour to complete another clean sweep will not mean a climb-down from their keenness to give enough game time to as many players as possible in the lead-up to the World Cup, which will be held in Australia in OctoberNovember.

The absence of the team’s established players, such as Virat Kohli and Rishbah Pant as well as KL Rahul, in the upcoming three T20 Internationals will definitely translate into more opportunities for the likes of Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson.

Kohli not there means Shreyas Iyer will get a chance to settle down, play more overs, score some useful runs and stake a claim for one of the middle-order slots, though the former India captain will come back to claim his number three spot heading into the World Cup.

The duo of Gaikwad and Iyer failed in the third T20Is against the West Indies and they would hope that they impress against Sri Lanka.

One of the highlights over the last week was Venkatesh Iyer’s ability to finish off matches and if he is able to continue in the same vein against the islanders, while managing to improve his bowling, the Indian team management will have a world-class all-rounder at its disposal going into the showpiece Down Under.

Sanju Samson has also been drafted into the squad and it would be interesting to see whether the management gives him a go in the playing XI.

Spinner Ravi Bishnoi also impressed in his maiden T20I series and he will look to march ahead with the same momentum.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has come back into the team to bolster the bowling attack and, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Siraj, will comprise a formidable pace bowling unit.

Bhuvneshwar will take confidence from his fine showing against the West Indies, especially in the death overs.

Recently, head coach Rahul Dravid had said that he and Rohit are pretty clear about the team for the marquee tournament in Australia in less than eight months’ time.

Lanka skipper wants more consistency from top-order
Let down by his batters in Australia, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka wants more consistency from the top-order in the threematch T20 series against India, beginning here on Thursday. “India have a strong bowling lineup and we are expecting our top-order to fire which will give our bowlers a chance to defend,” said Shanka in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “Our five main bowlers have done well. Personally I would like to bowl but there was no opportunity for me to bowl. If any of the bowlers get hit I am ready to take the ball.” 

Hasaranga ruled out
Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the three-match T20I series against India as he’s yet to recover from coronavirus after testing positive during their T20I tour of Australia.

All-format captain will play all games
Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said he has no issues in playing “all games” in bio-secure environments and will only take a break when he feels the need for it. There were questions before Rohit’s appointment as Test captain on whether he will be keen on leading across formats amid a hectic international schedule but the Indian skipper set the record straight. “At the moment, I have no issues and looking forward to playing all the games,” Rohit said ahead of India’s three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka.

Chahar, Suryakumar injured
Deepak sustained a right quadriceps injury during bowling, while Suryakumar suffered a hairline fracture during a fielding attempt in the third and final T20I against the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday. The duo will now head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of their injuries. (With inputs from agencies)