T20 World Cup | Drop Bhuvneshwar Kumar and play Shardul Thakur if Hardik Pandya not bowling, says Ajit Agarkar
Ajit Agarkar believes that Virat Kohli should pick Shardul Thakur ahead of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar if Hardik Pandya does not bowl in the T20 World Cup 2021. The former pacer also opined that Kohli might opt to play with six bowlers (three seamers and three spinners) if the pitches are flat.
Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl during the warm-up game against England on Monday, October 18 and that has again brought India's probable playing combination in the all-important T20 World Cup 2021 in focus. Bhuvneshwar Kumar leaking 54 runs from his four overs quota against England in the warm-up match on Monday, must have given the management an extra headache.
Hardik Pandya last bowled during the T20I series against Sri Lanka in July and did not roll his arms during the IPL 2021. During the second leg of the tournament, Mumbai Indians' head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that they are not pushing Hardik to bowl as that would affect his batting performance. Several former India cricketers have questioned the inclusion of the Gujarat-born all-rounder in the team despite his fitness issues.
Meanwhile, Agarkar spoke about the bowling combination Indian team could go with if Hardik Pandya is not fit to bowl.
“Relatively certain that Virat Kohli would like six bowling options. If the pitch has something to offer, then you can perhaps take a chance with five bowlers, but if it’s a flat pitch, he would ideally want to go in with six bowlers with three seamers and they have lots of spin options.
“And Jadeja is an all-rounder whose batting has come out in leaps and bounds. So, you can treat him as one of the top-order batsmen.
“So, my six options if Hadik Pandya is not to bowl - would be Bumrah, Shami, Shardul, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar,” Agarkar said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
India will play their next warm-up game against Australia on Wednesday, October 20 before starting their campaign against Pakistan on Sunday, October 24.
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