The T20 World Cup Team of India has got four all-rounders and their value was stressed by captain Rohit Sharma who told that the team management will be looking to utilize each one of them well during the event.
There are two fast bowling all-rounders in the team, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, as well as two left-arm spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, who can also contribute significantly with the bat.
Rohit did not rule out playing all four of them in the first eleven against Ireland at his pre-match press conference to strengthen his batting order.
“If you want to create a good balance in a team, you need a lot of all-rounders. In fast-bowling all-rounders we have Hardik and Dube while Jadeja and Axar give us options in the spin department,” said Rohit.
The question is how to use these four across the tournament. It is something that we have thought about and we will take a call on how to use them depending on what suits us best there. Using those four players is our thing here.
We have seen how much impact all rounders can make especially in T20 cricket. Not only in Twenty20s but throughout this whole game. They will matter more than others.
How best to use these four players? As I said I am not sure if they can play together as a combination at once. So if they do it would be lovely also if they don’t then still we must find our way said skipper.
It also boasts wrist-spinning pair Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, adding firepower to Indian’s attack through its spinning options.
Rohit acknowledged that conditions were uncertain and highlighted how important it was for him to get the right balance whether it meant playing three spinners or relying on seam bowlers instead.
“All three overs were bowled by the spinners when we played against Bangladesh. They weren’t very easy to get away also in yesterday’s game (SA vs. SL) the spinner took wickets. So nobody knows about it.
“Thus, these two things in mind, we will think of making a combination,” he said.
India had the benefit of playing a warm-up match against Bangladesh before facing Ireland, Pakistan and USA in the tournament proper.
“It certainly doesn’t look like a place where you can score easily at. We have to be a little bit mindful of that and see what is best that we could do out here. That’s what experience in the dressing room is all about and they’ve got a lot of it there.
“We are all coming off playing in IPL where a lot of runs were scored, so it’s important to have that balance, understand what is required here. It’s certainly not going to be an IPL kind of scores here, so we are very mindful of that and just need to assess as quickly as possible and then bring your game into it,” said Rohit.
It is not advisable to anticipate high scores like those that were found in the recently concluded IPL as per Rohit due to the pitch’s behavior at Nassau County ground on Monday.
This team has not won any of the ICC titles since 2013 hence they have a lot of weight on their shoulders.
However, six months ago they came close and failed against Australia in the final match of ODI world cup.
New Jersey-born player shared his thoughts about the approach which India must adopt for this competition. He emphasized on thinking as a team from today onwards and only focusing on winning all matches that they will be playing together.
“I have given much thought to this issue. I am going out there just to play my game and get everyone around me playing as a team. I’ve got to focus on that one thing because everyone in our squad deals with World Cups differently and probably make right choices too.
“But for me, it is important not to look too far ahead. Just think about what we need to do tomorrow, play the game well and then take it from there. Not think too much and put pressure on yourself,” said Rohit.
He looks forward to playing for New York first time ever.
“We never even imagined cricket would be played in America at some point. But now that we are here, it’s different, isn’t it? Since you landed in New York City 10 minutes’ walk through immigration – something rare does happen though.”
“So you can make out that the buzz is there, even the locals here are quite intrigued by a cricket tournament happening, a world cup happening here, because we go to cafes and everything; so many local people come up there while wishing us good luck. We’ve been to Florida but this is different.
“All of us who are playing here we will try to leave a mark on this city and also U.S citizens,” he added.
