ICC CWC’19: India’s predicted squad for NZ semi-final clash
The team had been facing issues in the middle order batting, ever since Shikhar Dhawan.
Mumbai: The Indian squad has faced three injuries since the tournament began and now the team are in the middle of a quite a selection crisis ahead of the semi-final clash against New Zealand.
The team had been facing issues in the middle order batting, ever since Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out and Rahul was moved to the front to open alongside Rohit Sharma. Now Kohli and Shastri have to go with Dinesh Karthik for that tricky yet crucial middle order spot, but Jadeja can help if he’s in.
Spinner dilemma
India’s bowling, considered the finest in the tournament, started taking a hit in the latter half of the league stage, most evident in the match against England. Spin-duo Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav combined gave away 160 runs and took just one wicket.
This prompted the decision to not rely on two spinners in the playing XI and Kuldeep Yadav was rested from the team for the match against Bangladesh. Another experimental change was made in the match against Sri Lanka when India rested Chahal and played Yadav instead.
The Jadeja question
They did go with a second spinner, albeit this time, it was Ravindra Jadeja, who could have also doubled as a middle order batsman, but thankfully India did not lose many wickets during the chase so there was no need of that.
Picking the pacers
It remains to be seen what combination the Men in Blue will play when it comes to the team’s pacers. The team are spoilt for choice between Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
While death-expert and ODI number one Bumrah and key all-rounder Pandya are sure to play, Mohammad Shami will likely replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar considering Kumar’s performances in the last two league games (1/51 in 9 overs, and 1/73 in 10 overs).
Final Predicted XI
Rohit Sharma
Lokesh Rahul
Virat Kohli (C)
Rishabh Pant
MS Dhoni (WK)
Hardik Pandya
Dinesh Karthik
Ravindra Jadeja
Mohammad Shami
Yuzvendra Chahal
Jasprit Bumrah
Also read: IND vs NZ LIVE Semi-final Updates