The final phase of preparations are going on for all the teams taking part in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. As far as the Indian team is concerned, they are still not clear as to what will be their ideal playing XI. The biggest headache for the Indian team management is where will Rishabh Pant play. There have been talks going around as to who is the better keeper-batter between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant.
Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina talked about Pant and said, “Bowlers will have a lot of edge. They know which batters are capable. We need to have one left-hander in the middle-order then you can really change the momentum because if you see KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh, Surya, I don't think Rishabh ka jagah ban raha hai (Rishabh Pant will be an automatic choice) but we need to somehow bring him for the middle overs. Because some of the spinners, you need to target them".
"In the bigger ground, you need to bat with intent where you can dominate. Australia has a batting till No. 10. England also know how to play white-ball cricket. Rohit, Surya has got great intent. I think Virat will be the key because he knows how to finish. He has been batting really well. I hope if he bats for 20 overs, we will win all the matches”, Raina added.
On Friday, the BCCI selection Committee finally announced the much-awaited Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement in India’s T20 World Cup squad. The ace Indian pacer Mohammed Shami will complete India’s squad. India will start their World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.