With the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup nearly a year away, the Indian team seems to have started building a squad for the marquee event slated to be played in West Indies and USA. The ongoing five-match T20I series has given them the chance to try out different combinations, test youngsters and try new players.
Hardik Pandya continues to lead the T20I team and this will give him a chance to asses how he wants to go about his business going ahead with the available resources with plenty of time at hand.
The series though began with a narrow four-run defeat to West Indies and Abhinav Mukund feels that there’s not much too read into the performance since India have played the format after a long time and they are testing a new batting order.
“India are playing a young team and playing this format after a long time,” Mukund said on JioCinema. “There’s a new batting order in place and no senior players in the side like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. No (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Mohammed) Shami with the ball, too. I don’t see it as too much of a concern.”
India struggled to chase down 150 and barring debutant Tilak Varma, none of their batters managed to cross 30 on what looked a slow surface. Mukund thinks a similar pitch will be on offer for the 2nd T20I but expects India batters to adapt a fearless approach.
“India’s batting approach was based on the conditions in Trinidad,” said Mukund. “The pitch was slow and it wasn’t offering too much for stroke-making. For the 2nd T20I, we are expecting another slow batting surface, but we expect someone like an Ishan Kishan to go big, someone like a Tilak Varma, who started off really well, and maybe even someone like Suryakumar Yadav, to play a few big shots. You would expect a fearless approach from the young batters in the 2nd T20I.”
India gave debut to fast bowler Mukesh Kumar in the series opener who formed the pace attack alongside skipper Pandya and Arshdeep Singh while Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar manned the spin department.
Mukund doesn’t see any changes happening in the bowling department.
“In the bowling department, I don’t see too many changes. With Hardik Pandya bowling four overs, that doesn’t give the option of bringing in another medium pacer. Mukesh Kumar was exceptional at the death and I feel he will get to play this game. Arshdeep Singh was a little under-cooked but he came back strongly. You don’t see too many changes in bowling,” said Mukund.
“They (India) approached the first game well, made a few mistakes but overall, I feel if they have the right approach, they will come out as the winning side. It’s too early to read into the result as something of a defeat because it was a game of close margins. I feel India will bounce back strongly as they have a good side,” he added.
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