India is faced with a certain problem. The Men in Blue can be tempted to leave out Mohammed Shami for the IND vs AUS World Cup opener. Rohit Sharma is keen on using 3 spinners in the playing XI as the pitch in Chennai will favour India. This can lead to the expulsion of Shami from the Indian playing XI.
MA Chidambaram Stadium is known for its famous slow pitches which will greatly favor spinners. As a result, India is likely to head into the game with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav.
“Yeah, I mean that’s the luxury we have where we can afford to play three spinners because I don’t really consider Hardik Pandya as just a seamer. He’s a proper fast bowler, who can crank up good speed. So that gives us an advantage,” said Rohit Sharma at the Press conference.
“That gives us that luxury of playing three spinners and three seamers as well you know so there’s a possibility that we can play three spinners on this pitch with three seamers as well, so it gives us that balance gives us that number eight batting option as well, so yeah like I said will we have to come here again tomorrow afternoon and see what the pitch looks like but yeah, three spinners is definitely an option,” added Rohit.
India Playing XI vs AUS: Gill unlikely, Ishan to open, 3 spinners on the cards
No Place for Mohammed Shami?
With 3 spinners in the team, there remains a spot for just 2 seamers. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will spearhead the pace attack while Hardik Pandya will operate as the third pacer in the squad. Over the last few months, Mohammed Shami’s stocks have gone down and as a result, Shami has been down the pecking order.
India Predicted XI vs Australia – Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
India Squad for Cricket World Cup 2023
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
WKs: Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (VC)
Seam all-rounders: Shardul Thakur
Spin all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Seamers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
Editors pick
