Abu Dhabi, Nov 2: Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s inexplicable absence from the playing XI is in focus as India skipper Virat Kohli tries to figure the combination that can bring his team’s floundering campaign back on track when it takes on a feisty Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
India’s run has been derailed after two crushing defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand although mathematically, there is still hopes.
Afghanistan have expectedly won their two games against Scotland and Namibia and were in the contest against Pakistan for the better part before Asif Ali took the game away.
In this backdrop, Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan would like to use all their might and T20 freelancing experience to add insult to the Indian injury and prolong the nightmare that started on October 24.
For Kohli, in probably his last three matches as T20 captain of India, one would expect some prudent team selections and it starts with the question of repeatedly ignoring a player of Ashwin’s calibre.
Ashwin’s entry into the white-ball team after four years was indeed left-field selection and if sources are to be believed, it never had the Indian skipper’s approval.
However Kohli’s decision to not even consider him as an option is something that many in Indian cricket feel, “borders on stubbornness” after Varun Chakravarthy’s inability to deliver under pressure.
What went against Ashwin was his lack of consistency which led to his ouster four years back. But desperate times call for desperate measures and against Afghanistan, which is not used to facing a spinner of Ashwin’s class, his presence might just prove to be beneficial.
The opening duo of burly left-hander Hazratullah Zazai and the rotund and flamboyant Mohammed Shahzad, who lacks in footwork, might find it difficult to deal with Ashwin’s tricks.
Afghanistan’s new ball bowlers – the experienced Hamid Hasan and young Naveen ul Haq – are certainly good but on their day, KL Rahul and Rohit could just send them on a leather-hunt. If Suryakumar Yadav, who is suffering from back spasms, is fit and available, one could possibly find both him and Ishan Kishan playing in the middle-order as the team is hardly getting any tangible benefit from Hardik Pandya’s presence.
Against Afghanistan, the middle-overs, during which the peerless Rashid Khan operates, will be crucial. Along with Gulbadin Naib, who bowls wicket-to-wicket steady medium pace with an occasional ‘heavy ball’, India might want to play those overs with caution.
They would look to attack Afghan seamers primarily in their bid to ramp up the scoring. Kohli would like to chase under lights with dew setting in but if he bats first, a middling score of 145 to 155 could possibly spell trouble in case Shahzad starts finding a few off the middle of his bat.
This will be one match where if India wins, they wouldn’t get any credit but if they lose, all hell will break loose.
India
Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravichandran Ashwin
Afghanistan
Mohammed Nabi (captain), Hazratullah Zazai, Ahmed Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen ul Haq, Rashid Kham, Hamid Hasan, Rahamnaullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmed, Usman Ghani.
Match Starts at 7:30 pm IST. (PTI)
