Legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag has urged the Team India captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid to rest the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin for the upcoming match against Afghanistan in Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s opening World Cup game against Australia, put on a strong display giving only 34 runs, and also got rid of Cameron Green. The Men in Blue would tempted to bring in either Shardul Thakur or Mohammed Shami for the game against Afghanistan, as the pitch might assist the seamers in Delhi, given the previous game between Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag feels that Indian team management would look to rest Ravichandran Ashwin for the next game, as they would be tempted to bring in Mohammed Shami for the game given his fine form in the ODI cricket and reckons that the team would be looking to save him for marquee clashes in the tournament.
“I think Ravichandran Ashwin will be rested. Mohammed Shami has been in wonderful form, and he even took a fifer against Australia. This is a different wicket, and the ground is also smaller. Also, there is the age factor with Ashwin. So, India will look to save him for the big matches,” Virender Sehwag said.
The selectors decided to include Ravichandran Ashwin in the ODI World Cup in Axar Patel’s place because of his outstanding performance for the Indian squad during the three-match ODI series against Australia and had a decent in the World Cup opener and could be rotated throughout the tournament, with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav being the primary spin bowling for the team.
KL Rahul’s Batting In This Position Has Strengthened Team India’s Middle-order – Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag hailed Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma for asking KL Rahul to keep wickets and bat in the middle order, which eventually strengthened the batting lineup for the Men in Blue, and feels that if he had opened the innings in the ODI cricket then a lot of pressure of fall on the guys like Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.
“We must praise Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma for convincing KL Rahul to keep wickets and bat in the middle-order. Rahul batting in this position has strengthened Team India’s middle order. Had he opened the innings and gotten out early, we would have had to rely on guys like Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav,” Virender Sehwag added.
After keeping wickets for 49.3 overs in the sweltering heat of Chennai, Rahul was compelled to bat in the third over of the game. After a shaky beginning, Rahul’s 165-run partnership with Virat Kohli for the fourth wicket gave India helped India to win the opening game of the World Cup.
