Sunil Gavaskar has recommended replacements for all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in Virat Kohli’s playing XI ahead of India’s upcoming T20 World Cup Super 12 fixture against New Zealand.
Team India faces New Zealand on Sunday and will be aiming to bag their first win of the campaign after having lost to Pakistan in their opening fixture.
Sunil Gavaskar: If Hardik Pandya Can’t Bowl, He Should Be Replaced By In Form Ishan Kishan
The legendary cricketer feels that if Hardik Pandya can’t bowl then, he should be replaced by Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate Ishan Kishan.
Speaking on Sports Tak, Gavaskar stated, “If Hardik Pandya is not bowling – due to that shoulder injury he sustained in the match against Pakistan – Ishan Kishan has been in brilliant form so I will surely consider him ahead of Pandya”.
Sunil Gavaskar: Perhaps One Can think Of Shardul Thakur In Place Of Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl a single delivery against Pakistan but was recently seen bowling in the nets for India.
“And perhaps, you can think of Shardul Thakur in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But otherwise, if you make too many changes, then you will show the opposition that you have panicked,” he further added.
Sunil Gavaskar also feels that if Team India makes a lot of changes against New Zealand, it could have a negative impact on the outfit.
“If you make changes, it will show that the team has panicked. There is no need to panic, because they have a good team. Yes, you’ve lost a match to a good team but that doesn’t mean that going forward, India won’t win the match or win the tournament. If you win the next four matches, you can make it to the semi-final and from there, possibly even the final. So, there is no need to make too many changes”, he stated.
Sunil Gavaskar also suggested that Shardul Thakur should be slotted into the playing XI instead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer was in poor form against Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, conceding 25 runs in three overs.
He also failed to register a dismissal as Pakistan won by ten wickets. On the other hand, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a good outing against Australia (1/27) after a poor outing against England (0/54) in the two warm-up games.
Against Pakistan, Ravindra Jadeja (0/28 in 4 overs), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/25 in 3 overs), Mohammed Shami (0/43 in 3.5 overs), Varun Chakravarthy (0/33 in 4 overs), and Jasprit Bumrah (0/22 in 3 overs) tried their best but were unable to take any wickets and couldn’t prevent a Pakistan win. Pakistan reached the target of 152 in the penultimate delivery of the 18th over.