With the absence of Sanju Samson, India is stuck in a conundrum with three left-handers at the top in Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma. Although South Africa does not have a specialist off-spinner on their side, Aiden Markram has rolled over his arm a few times in the past and has a knack for picking wickets. Former Indian cricketer Lakshmipathy Balaji predicted that skipper Markram would open the bowling with him and said both Abhishek and Tilak could lack the conviction to face Markram.
“Markram will definitely open the bowling with three left-handers in India’s top three. And except Ishan Kishan, the other two are coming in without runs under their belt. They could lack the conviction to play a sweep or use their feet,” said Balaji in the YouTube channel of Subramaniam Badrinath.
Adding to the point made by Balaji Badrinath, Suryakumar Yadav is India’s best player of spin. But he comes into bat only at No.4, so his handling of spin in the powerplay is ruled out. This concern has been there for India for a while now. South Africa ate India up by using spin in the Test series.”
In addition to the match-ups, the duo also discussed the combinations India should be picking. In the game against the Netherlands, India has opted to go for Washington Sundar, but both Balaji and Badrinath predict that for the Super 8 clash against South Africa, Axar Patel should be back in the side.
“It’s not a convincing move. They should definitely go back to Axar Patel. Though South Africa also have a lot of left-handers and India tried the off-spinner in the last match, it’s not working. Axar has also performed brilliantly in big matches and made several crucial contributions in the previous T20 World Cup.”
India will face Zimbabwe and West Indies in their remaining two Super 8 games.
