New Delhi, February 25
Former legendary Australia cricketer Ricky Ponting is of the opinio that the Indian team should be focusing on playing their best XI rather than trying to get the matchups right, when they face Zimbabwe in their next Super Eight clash on Thursday in Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.
"Listening to the commentary, the reason Axar didn't play (against South Africa) is because of the left-handers in the opposition side. But there's still some right-handers there. It just comes down to the art of the captain of being able to use Axar at the right time," Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side lost their first Super Eight fixture against South Africa by a big margin of 76 runs in Ahmedabad, and now, India will next take on Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday, before wrapping up the Super Eight stage on Sunday against the West Indies in Kolkata.
"I would be going back to the basics. I'd be just looking at their lineup. Who's our best XI for the conditions in Chennai?" added Ponting, who has led Australia to two ICC Men's Cricket World Cup triumphs.
"If that has Axar Patel in it, great. If it has Kuldeep Yadav in it, that's the other one that I'd be thinking about bringing back because it doesn't matter with him if it's left-hand or right-hand. He can bowl wrong ones and spin the ball away from the left-hand outside edge of both those batters," said Ponting.
Quality spinners have made an impact at the T20 World Cup, especially in the matches played in India. Former Indian cricketer and now commentator, Ravi Shastri, also believed that India will make changes in the playing XI and Axar Patel may play th match against Zimbabwe..
"I think they have to bring him (Axar Patel) back. You need that experience," said Shastri.
He said, "I would say play both (Patel and Sundar). Give yourself that extra option. Because on a given day, you're bound to have one bowler who's going to have an off day. Like, for example, Varun Chakravarthy on Sunday. He was not at his best, and he paid the price for it. If Axar Patel is playing, he might be batting at No.8. You have got Hardik Pandya at No.5, you've got Shivam Dube at No.6, you've got Washington Sundar at No.7. Axar can go at No.5 as well."
"Now, if eight batters can't do the job in T20 cricket, then something's wrong, especially with that kind of firepower. What you're missing out on is that you're not giving yourself that extra option of a bowler, which I think is important. Rinku Singh might have to miss out. But if he has to come in, he has to come in place of a specialist batter," concluded Shastri.
- ANI
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