Team India’s warm-up fixture against Bangladesh ahead of the all-important ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 has provided a solid hint of the actual playing combination for Team India. The Indian side left various clues during their only warm-up match held last night in New York’s Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Team India batted first and scored 182 runs in the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant (53 runs off 32 balls) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (40 runs off 23 balls) made the healthiest contributions to the team’s total.
It was further intriguing that while everyone got some game time in the middle, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of the warm-up fixture. Team India opened with Rohit Sharma and wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson in the warm-up game against Bangladesh.
The Indian skipper returned with a modest 23 runs off 19 deliveries, and Sanju Samson once again failed on the big stage to convert the golden opportunity.
It’s very unlikely that Sanju Samson would open the innings, especially after his abysmal returns in the warm-up game which saw him score just a run in 6 deliveries.
Moreover, the decision not to give game time to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is one of the designated openers in the team seems weird and incomprehensible.
Though there is no official confirmation, the reports believe that Team India may try the opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the T20 World Cup 2024 and this could be the sole reason why Jaiswal wasn’t tested in the warm-up game.
“Virat has just arrived yesterday, he’s going to miss out [on the warm-up game],” Rohit Sharma informed after Virat Kohli joined the Indian squad following IPL 2024.
Indian skipper was happy with how the team performed in the game, after defeating Bangladesh by 60 runs. The batting unit stepped up followed by the blast of the bowlers to dismantle the opposition batting.
“Quite happy with how things went. Pretty much got what we wanted from the game. Like I said at the toss, it was important to get used to the conditions. New venue, new ground, drop-in pitch – important to get used to it and we managed pretty well,” he said after India won the match by 60 runs.
“(On Pant batting at No.3) Just to give him an opportunity. We have not really nailed down what the batting unit will look like. Even the bowlers did pretty well. All in happy, happy with how things went,” he said.
He further added “We have got 15 good players here. We have to see what the conditions are and then see what combination is best for us.”
Although Team India’s actual playing11 would be known on June 5 in the fixture against Ireland, the above are strong hints that the Men in Blue may persist with Virat Kohli as the opener. This comes especially after Virat’s memorable outing in the IPL 2024, where he piled up 741 runs in 15 innings.
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