IND vs AFG, 2nd T20I: Team India and Afghanistan will resume their battle in the second T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on September 15, Tuesday. Although the Men in Blue won the series-opener comfortably, they have been jolted by an injury to Varun Chakravarthy in the second T20I. As a result, the reigning T20I champions will be forced to make at least one change to their XI for the second game. But will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get an opportunity in the second game too?
IND vs AFG, 2nd T20I: Will Ravi Bishnoi replace Varun Chakravarthy? Will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get an opportunity?
With the forced change being that of Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi looms as like-for-like replacement. While Bishnoi struggled in the only game he played in England, the leggie performed decently in Zimbabwe, taking three wickets in as many games en route to India’s 3-0 series victory. Hence, he remains on the forefront to take the 35-year-old’s spot. While the Men in Blue will be thinking about Jasprit Bumrah’s workload ahead of a gruelling season, they are likely to rest him only after the second T20I when India seal the series.
On the other hand, the urge to play Sooryavanshi will be a compelling one, especially after Sanju Samson’s failure in the opening game. But the keeper-batter looks likely to retain his spot at least for one more game. Should the Kerala-born cricketer fail again, Sooryavanshi might well get an opportunity in the final T20I.
India’s predicted XI: Sanju Samson(w)/Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi
Ishan Kishan opens up on the challenges of switching formats continuously
Having played the first T20I, mere days after red-ball cricket in the Duleep Trophy, Ishan Kishan, who scored a measured 42, explained that he played a textbook one-day knock in the first T20I because of how Abhishek Sharma played. He said in a video shared by the BCCI:
“You know, as a professional, I think when it changes, we just have to adapt as soon as possible. We need to get into that zone again and again because this is not the first time we are doing this. We keep on playing different formats and then we come back to T20 cricket, yeah, it takes a bit of time to get along with the game sometimes, but at the same time, you know, you need to be just calm and composed in the middle so that you get the best out of yourself. I think I played a one day innings today because Abhishek was there, he was playing good shots. I wanted Abhishek to have that momentum so that he can keep on going and not think about wickets falling from other end. So, yeah, you just have to keep judging. Some days, if I feel like Abhishek is not in such great touch in the middle, maybe I will take that role.”
The Men in Blue are firm favourites to make the series 2-0.
