The American dream begins
New York, June 4
Sceptics call them ‘old wine in new bottle’ but a clutch of superstar Indian cricketers will leave no stone unturned to break away from their archaic template when they take on a plucky Ireland in their opening game of the T20 World Cup here tomorrow.
The team knows that it is a touch undercooked with a lot of confusion still persisting around what could be the best combination on a drop-in virgin strip. As is clear from the games so far, scoring won’t be a walk in the park like it was during the IPL the last couple of months.
But the bigger concern is the baggage of being favourites who don’t really make it count in the end.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have individually laid their hands on global silverware but an assortment of other cricketers, including Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, have not and would be eager to know how it feels.
The most poignant sight of last year’s ODI World Cup was a forlorn Rohit, desperately trying to cover his welled-up eyes from the TV cameras as he quietly climbed the steps of the Narendra Modi Stadium dressing room.
There was also Kohli, who after scoring those 765 invaluable runs, could only get a fleeting blank gaze towards the podium where the trophy was kept.
The best players sometimes don’t add up to become the best team and while India have put faith in their most experienced lot, it can’t be simply wished away that this current batch has faltered at the final two hurdles way too many times.
At 37, this could safely be termed as Rohit’s last World Cup in the white-ball format.
A very gutsy Irish team with some quality T20 players like Paul Stirling, Josh Little, Harry Tector and Andy Balbirnie awaits India.
On a slow track and a sub-standard outfield at the Nassau County ground, how India play against Irish left-arm spinner George Dockrell will be interesting.
Where India hold the advantage is their spinners who are way better compared to what the Irish team have though the pace attack, aside from Bumrah, looks a bit weak in absence of the redoubtable Mohammed Shami.
Having too many options sometimes is a headache, and so India have one at the top. To fit in skipper Rohit and team’s most elite batter in Kohli, they have to probably sacrifice Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rishabh Pant’s batting at No. 3 in the practice game was like a breath of fresh air and Hardik Pandya’s bowling form will indicate how India fare in this competition. — PTI
Gavaskar wants Kohli to open and Jaiswal at No. 3
New York: Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels Virat Kohli should open alongside skipper Rohit Sharma in India’s T20 World Cup game against Ireland tomorrow with Yashasvi Jaiswal dropping down to the No. 3 position. There has been a lot of debate around Kohli’s batting position in the T20 World Cup. Kohli has been India’s designated No. 3 batter in the white-ball format for a long time. He heads to the marquee event on the back of an excellent IPL season. “Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to open the batting along with Yashasvi Jaiswal at three,” Gavaskar told a TV channel while talking about his preferred batting-line up. Gavaskar picked the flamboyant Rishabh Pant ahead of Sanju Samson for keeping duties and Mohammed Siraj ahead of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. PTI
