In the third T20 International against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, India will have to decide between the ultra-cool aggression of Abhishek Sharma and the seemingly effortless flamboyance of Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top. This is because they will be switching up their lineup to make room for players who won the World Cup.
In the most crucial game of the series, the Indian team will be formidable thanks to the return of Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube, all of whom were a part of the winning squad last month. The visitors will be looking to build on their series-leveling 100-run victory in the second match.
In just his second game, Abhishek, the left-handed opener, looked the part as he opened the innings and did enough to live up to the anticipation that preceded the series.
But because he is the first-choice T20 team’s reserve opener, Jaiswal has the first claim to be skipper Shubman Gill’s opening partner despite his impressive strike rate of 161 plus in 17 T20I matches, including a century and four half-centuries.
After a historic innings, it is not uncommon—though rare—for batters to be dropped in the very next game.
Examples of this include Manoj Tiwary in the moments following his first-ever ODI century against the West Indies in 2011 and Karun Nair following his triple century in a 2016 Test match against England.
However, captain Gill is not going to allow that to occur with his closest friend from their U-14 days and someone who used a willow that the former gave him to score his first international century.
Thus, it’s possible that one of the two southpaws will bat first. Sanju Samson, who bats third for the Rajasthan Royals, may bat at number five, while Ruturaj Gaikwad, who bats third, is likely to bat at number four.
Regarding the alterations to the starting eleven, Jaiswal is probably going to take B Sai Sudharsan’s spot, who was only picked for the opening two games.
Dhruv Jurel, who had a solid outing behind the stumps, will be replaced by Samson.
The lone player that participated in the T20 World Cup playing XI, Dube, is probably going to step in to take Riyan Parag’s place. During the back-10, the formidable batsman might pose an even greater threat to the Zimbabwean spinners.
As far as Zimbabwe is concerned, their batting has left a lot to be desired with scores of 115 while batting first and 134 in the second essay chasing 235.
On the Harare Sports Club track where there is a bit of extra bounce available for the spinners, Ravi Bishnoi (6/24 from 8 overs) and Washington Sundar (3/39 in 8 overs) have proved to be unplayable at times.
The home captain Sikandar Raza has been kept quiet by Bishnoi, who typically bowls 20 to 22 googlies in his 24 balls per match. As a result, the other hitters haven’t looked good enough to fend off the Indian bowling attack.
The young visiting team learned a valuable lesson from the 13-run upset loss in the first game, and it performed admirably in the second game when batting first became an advantage without five specialist bowlers.
After two lackluster games, captain Gill would need a strong result, and he is simply too talented to lose three times. The fact that there isn’t a single bowler on the home squad with express pace could be a concerning indication for them.
To put it briefly, it might be just another one-sided game.
Teams (from):
India: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Khaleel Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande.
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (captain), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Antum Naqvi, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba.
Match Starts at 4:30 pm IST.
The post India Eyes Statement Win Against Zimbabwe,Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Position in Focus appeared first on Cricket Country.
