Pressure on Shikhar as battle with Rahul for opener’s slot heats up Audition
A washed out series-opener means Shikhar Dhawan has one game less to make a statement in his quest to outperform an in-form KL Rahul, making the opener’s fortunes an interesting sub-plot of India’s second T20I against Sri Lanka here tomorrow.
The left-hander’s strike rate in the shortest format has been an issue for a while and that is one thing he must address in the remaining two matches against Sri Lanka.
The fact that Dhawan is coming back from an injury, one of the many he suffered in 2019, makes his task all the more challenging. In 2019, Dhawan managed 272 runs in 12 games at a strike rate of 110.
Rahul, on the other hand, was in scintillating form in the three ODIs and three T20Is against the West Indies, scoring one hundred and three fifties in the six innings.
Skipper Virat Kohli too has stated that choosing between Dhawan and Rahul will be a tough call after Rohit, who is rested from the Sri Lanka series, returns to opening the innings. “When Rohit comes back, you know, it’s going to be a difficult thing to address because Shikhar has been an experienced player but KL is playing so well. I think we’ll have to decide what is the best combination that we can go with and who are the best XI to take the field,” Kohli had said ahead of the first T20.
2 nd T20I Indore will host. In the first T20I here — in 2017 — India made 260/5 against Sri Lanka, with Rohit Sharma scoring 118 off 43 balls. The visitors were then bowled out for 172, with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal taking seven wickets
Changes unlikely
Considering not a ball was bowled in Guwahati, it is unlikely that Kohli will make changes to the playing XI, having picked three specialist pacers and two spinners for the series-opener. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav were the chosen spinners with Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja missing out. Kohli had taken that call keeping the significant presence of left-handers in the Sri Lankan line-up. Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson, who has been warming the bench series after series, are likely to sit out again.
Chemical for dew
In an effort to counter the effects of dew, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) has been spraying a special chemical on the outfield at the Holkar Stadium. MPCA chief curator Samander Singh Chauhan said that to beat the effect of dew, a special chemical was being sprayed over the ground since the last three days. Besides, he said, the grass on the ground was also not being watered since the last three days to minimise the effect of dew. The final match of the series will be played in Pune on January 10.(TNS)
