After three consecutive wins and a washed out encounter against Canada, India will take on an in-form Afghanistan in their first Super 8 clash of T20 World Cup 2024. So far, Rohit Sharma has stuck to the winning combination and backed the 11 players irrespective of their performances. However, former Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth believes that his statemate Sanju Samson can replace Shivam Dube in the middle order.
"We know he can be in the middle order instead of (Shivam) Dube. If Dube is not rotating his arms or if he’s not bowling, I think that will be a brilliant option because he always adapts to the situations and he can change his gear,” Sreesanth told Firstpost.
"When wickets like New York or even in Barbados or anywhere for that matter, if three or four wickets goes early, I think he can be that somebody who can play the sheet anchor role and play with those finishes like Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.”
Dube was dismissed for a single-digit score against New York. In the run chase against co-hosts USA, he got off to a sluggish start. However, he continued to fight and supported Suryakumar Yadav in the run chase. The big-hitter remained unbeaten for 31 from 35 balls in the successful run chase.
On the other hand, Samson was tried as an opener in the warm-up game against Bangladesh. He could not do well and scored just one run from six deliveries before getting out lbw to left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam.
Four all-rounders in playing XI?
India will take on Afghanistan at Kensington Oval, Barbados on June 20. Spinners have got more purchase from the track. India batting coach Vikram Rathour on June 15 was asked whether India will look to include all four all-rounders for the clash against Rashid Khan-led side.
“Again, we need to be a flexible team. We need to look at the conditions that are in front of us and be ready to deal with those. So as a team, we are going to be really flexible, I think,” he replied.
“We'll react to what (conditions) we get on the day. We have enough sources in our team to deal with any kind of conditions.”
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