Everywhere there is a debate in print media as well as social media which includes YouTube also, as to who the final eleven be in India’s T20 World Cup encounter against Pakistan on Sunday, 23rd October 2022. I think I should also put forth my eleven along with justification.
I do not think there is any disagreement on Indian batting line such as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Surya Yadav, and Hardik Pandya. So, five players are beyond dispute. That leaves the wicket-keeper batsman and bowlers.
Dinesh Kartik or Rishabh Pant?
No doubt, Rishabh Pant is a credible middle order batsman and his performance in test and ODI in Australia is great. However, his performance in T20 is abysmal. He had been given some opportunity in the top of the order and he failed to score impactfully. Dinesh Kartik at this age had been brought into Indian team for a better finish. He had been superb till now whenever he gets a chance to bat.
Thus, Dinesh Kartik will be preferred over Pant. According to me, Dinesh is the 6th player in the team along with above five undisputed batsmen. Some are arguing that both Pant and Dinesh should play. I think that would be damaging to India’s interest as it will end up with four specialist bowlers only. In T20 where one over matters, you cannot go with one less bowler. On his day, Hardik Pandya may be a good bowler but then any bowler can have a bad day. Wisdom is to go with six bowlers that includes an allrounder like Hardik Pandya.
Pace bowling:
As the tournament is being played in Australia, you must have three genuine pace-bowler. In the absence of Bumrah, I think Bhubaneswar Kumar is the lead bowler. So he’s a must. Many start arguing against him for his expensive 19th Overs. But if you carefully observe, all bowlers including Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh etc also went for expensive overs in 19th over. Not to forget Bhubaneswar Kumar was the highest wicket taker in Asia Cup 2022 when even India could not enter the final.
Next, I would pick up Md Shami not because he had taken three wickets in one over in last warm up game, but because he’s a genuine pace bowler and wicket taker. His only problem is that he’s not so economical in T20. Not to forget Shami was hugely trolled on social media for leaking runs against Pakistan in T20 WC 2021. He was also squarely blamed for India’s loss against Pakistan. (Both trolling and blaming Shami was undesirable and no sports lover ever exerts to that). Anyway, in Australian environment Shami on his day could be destructive to opponents. Thus he should be in the team.
Now a toss up between Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel. Harshal appears not to be in perfect form, on the other hand Arshdeep lacks pace. In Australian condition, I think Arshdeep despite a left-hand swing bowler won’t perform better. On the other hand, Indian team lacks death bowling. So, I would chose Harshal Patel over Arshdeep Singh. Should Harshal and Arshdeep both play? Well, that will reduce number of spinners to one. I think that would be a tight call for Indian team management. However, I would prefer two spinners because India’s poor record over-rate. So having additional pace bowler would make India not achieving the over rate and had to bring an additional player into 30-yard circle for couple of overs.
Spinners:
I do not think there would be any dispute in Yuzvendra Chahal as the number one spinner. In big grounds of Australia, Chahal not only be deadly but also can be very economical. Thus, he is my first spinner.
Many are making a toss-up between Akshar Patel and R Ashwin. Some are arguing that Pakistan has three left-hand batsmen thus Ashwin could be very useful. Even in practice games, Ashwin bowled whereas Akshar Patel did not bowl at all. I have an issue with Ashwin, that he is not taking wickets or say indulges in defensive bowling. Also, I do not believe that left hand bowlers can’t be successful against left batsmen? (How right-hand spinners are successful against right hand bowlers?). So my pick is Akshar Patel because he bowls stump to stump.
So my final eleven are KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Surya Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Kartik, Akshar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhubaneswar Kumar, Md Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal. What is your eleven and the logic?