T20 WC: Agarkar picks Shardul ahead of Bhuvneshwar in India's playing XI
Oct 19, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 19 : Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar reckons that Virat Kohli can look at Ravindra Jadeja as one of the top-order batters in the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
India will open its campaign in the upcoming T20 World Cup against Pakistan on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium. Virat Kohli's side will also have the services of MS Dhoni as the former India skipper will act as a mentor.
"Relatively certain that Virat Kohli would like six bowling options. If the pitch has something to offer, then you can perhaps take a chance with five bowlers, but if it's a flat pitch, he would ideally want to go in with six bowlers with three seamers and they have lots of spin options," said Agarkar on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.
"And Jadeja is an all-rounder whose batting has come out in leaps and bounds. So, you can treat him as one of the top-order batsmen. So, my six options - if Hardik Pandya is not to bowl - would be Bumrah, Shami, Shardul, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar," he added.
India defeated England by seven wickets in the warm-up fixture on Monday and KL Rahul starred with the bat as he played a knock of 51 runs. Ishan Kishan was also a bright spot as he played a knock of 70 runs.
Among bowlers, Mohammed Shami returned with three wickets while Rahul Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar proved expensive with the ball.