Debasis Sen, Manchester: Virat Kohli and his team yet again find themselves in selection dilemma ahead of the all important first semi final of the ICC Cricket World Cup clash against New Zealand at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Leg spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal is likely to be drafted in the playing XI against the Blackcaps after warming the benches against Sri Lanka in the last match at Leeds. The team management might not play the combination of Kulcha (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzuvendra Chahal), and play three pacers against New Zealand.
It will be an interesting selection as Chahal has been more expensive than the chinaman bowler. Kuldeep’s economy of 4.89 has been far better than that of Chahal, who has gone at 6.09. But the team management is considering giving a chance to Chahal.
The team management may also go in with the same new ball combination of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. And in the later part of the game they will use Mohammed Shami & Hardik Pandya. Shami has been the star for Indian bowling lineup in terms of wickets as he has wickets in double digit (14) having played one less match than Bhuvneshwar, who has played five games. Both players have similar economy rates, but Shami’s strike rate (15) and average (13.78) are far better than those of Bhuvneshwar, whose corresponding figures are 35.7 and 32.28.
As far as the batting order is concerned, it may remain unchanged with Dinesh Karthik getting favour over Kedar Jadhav. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain batted for a long time at the nets on Monday. He was seen walking at the nets twice after the others finished their turn. Kedar too batted at the nets along with Dhoni but is very unlikely to get a chance against the Kiwis. With KL Rahul getting runs at the top along with Pant in the middle order, there will hardly be any changes in the batting order that played against Sri Lanka at Leeds. Indian Captain Virat Kohli along with Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah skipped the optional training session.
India (playing XI likely): Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Risabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik/Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami & Yuzuvendra Chahal.