India’s final round of preparation for next month’s T20 World Cup begins with the first T20I against Australia at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday. A fair bit of game time, that too against the defending T20 World Cup champions, is certainly a good way to get ready and mark those boxes remaining unticked ahead of the showpiece event.
Australia will be without a few of their key players in the form of frontline pacer Mitchell Starc and all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, who have all been kept out of the tour because of “low-level injuries”.
This, after David Warner, a mainstay of their batting line-up, had also been rested for the series. Obviously, the Australians have preferred to exercise caution ahead of the World Cup. Still, they have a decent bit of quality in their squad to challenge the Indians.
That will make the hosts more aware of their strengths and weaknesses going into next month’s mega event. The Indian squad primarily comprises players who could be used at some point in time during the World Cup, although it remains to be seen how they utilise all-rounder Hardik Pandya and quicks Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh in this series followed by the three T20Is against South Africa.
The day India’s Cup squad was announced, the BCCI had also said in a release that the trio will be “reporting to the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) for conditioning-related work” during the course of these two home series. The team management, in that case, can work a little more on the combinations even though its ploy to experiment a little too much had copped criticism during the Asia Cup.
However, with Virat Kohli finally having broken the century drought and looking sharper at nets, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah back in the fold alongside T20 specialist Harshal Patel, India would certainly be concerned about these aspects leading up to the World Cup.
How Kohli fares against the Australian attack, whose fast bowling unit is much stronger than that of Afghanistan (against whom he hit the hundred in India’s last international game), will determine if he really is back to his best. What also needs to be seen is how India sort their batting order after the top four that comprise captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav.
With the injured Ravindra Jadeja ruled out, India will also need to make efficient use of leftarm spinner all-rounder Axar Patel, who has proved his mettle lately. But a greater share of the focus could well be on how Bumrah fares. Having recovered from a back injury and returning to the side after two months, it may not be that easy for the pacer to be at his sharpest best straightaway.
However, if Bumrah looks steady and doesn’t give much away, that too should make India feel much better. Bumrah’s ability and usefulness, both in the Powerplay and slog overs, are known to all.
