India will compete against Afghanistan in their first group stage fixture at the 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. The team, especially the remaining batting unit with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, is eager to perform after a tough time on the humiliating pitch at Nassau County Stadium in New York. Everyone would expect big things from Kohli, who has not had a great beginning to the tournament, batting one, four, and a duck in the pool stages. Interestingly, this will be Kohli’s direct T20I debut at the ground. However, he only got a single Test and one ODI appearance at the Kensington Oval, which spanned his whole career.
However, the batting form of the captain Kohli still remains an issue, but with the exciting talents of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav in the emerging group. Langridge has brought serenity to India’s innings with his match-saving 36 against Ireland, a fighting 42 against Pakistan, and Yadav’s decisive fifty against the USA for India’s advancement. Shivam Dube has been fairly average and has not lived up to the potential that he showed in the IPL. His innings of 31 off 35 balls against the hosts could make him be selected again, depending on the current selection criteria.
However, India’s bowling division is solid throughout, with Bumrah, Pandya, and Arshdeep as bowlers who have performed impressively well all through. However, there is bad news on the bowling front where Pandya and Arshdeep, in particular, struggled in the IPL. The team breezed through the group stage without any rotation, but any cricket lover knows that Caribbean pitches are spinner-friendly and might pose an interesting question.
All African and Caribbean pitches are reported to be greatly helping bowlers, especially the finger spinners. Though Kuldeep Yadav is not a finger spinner, he can be a good spinner who may bolster the Indian bowling attack. The team might have to let go of one of their pacers to ensure they include Kuldeep in their eleven players. As seen in the recent performances, Mohammed Siraj can be benched to achieve equilibrium in the batting power.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi.