With the ICC World Cup 2019 less than 100 days to go, Team India will start their final limited-overs series with the first T20I against Australia in Visakhapatnam on February 24. The Indian team’s World Cup preparations have taken a hit due to the back injury to Hardik Pandya who has been ruled out of the entire duration of Australia’s visit.
Last year in September, the all-rounder had also faced a similar injury during the Asia Cup before making a comeback in the Test series in Australia. But a talk show controversy delayed his on-field appearance and after some good performances against New Zealand, he finds himself on the sideline yet again.
But the good news for India is that the regular skipper, Virat Kohli will make a comeback to the squad, who missed the last two ODIs and the entire T20I series against New Zealand as he wanted to rest before the final lap leading up to the World Cup. For the Australia series, India has otherwise opted for a near full-strength squad with only Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav rested.
ALSO READ: Sachin Tendulkar Feels India Should Play With Pakistan In WC 2019
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting while Kohli will be seen batting at number 3. It will be interesting to see how and in which position Vijay Shankar is used. He played as a pure batsman in New Zealand but Pandya’s absence might see him bat at number 7 and bowl 4 overs. MS Dhoni will be performing the wicket-keeping duties and Dinesh Karthik will be extremely eager to prove a point to the selectors who left him out for the subsequent ODI series.
Jasprit Bumrah will also be making a comeback to the Indian squad since being rested following the Test series triumph Down Under. He will partner either Siddharth Kaul or Umesh Yadav with the new ball while Yuzvendra Chahal and Krunal Pandya will be the spinning options. It is likely that Kaul will start ahead of Umesh given he has also been selected in the squad for the first two ODIs.
Predicted XI Of India For Vizag T20I
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Krunal Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
