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'It is a tough one for them, and probably a concern': Jayawardene points out India's 'challenge' ahead of T20 World Cup
If former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is to be believed, India have a couple of problems they need to resolve before the T20 World Cup.
India are one of the best T20I playing cricket nations in the world. However, currently ranked No.1, Team India's Asia Cup 2022 did not live up to expectations as the Rohit Sharma-led unit got knocked out in the Super 4 and failed to qualify for the final. One can argue that the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel could have been a factor behind India's disappointing campaign but for a team that brags about playing at least two top teams ready, not going the distance ended up being a dampener for the seven-time Asia Cup champions.
And if former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is to be believed, their problems haven't ended yet. With star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja out injured, Jayawardene reckons India will have a tough time balancing out their Playing XI, especially given the fact that barring Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel, there are no left-handed batters in the squad.
"It is a challenge. They had fitted him nicely in that No.5 role. He has been batting really well and him and Hardik (Pandya) being in that top six – two guys who can give that all-round options – gave India much more flexibility in that batting order," Jayawardena told Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
The toss-up between Pant and Dinesh Karthik promises to make for a very interesting viewing. While both have been named in India's 15-member squad, the management are in a bit of a fix picking between the two. In the first Asia Cup tie against Pakistan, Karthik played ahead of Pant, but the young wicketkeeper returned for the game against Hong Kong, where both wicketkeepers played.
Karthik would sit out against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two matches where Pant flopped and India struggled to accelerate in the death overs. Karthik returned to the XI against Afghanistan but by then, India had already been eliminated. Jayawardene weighed in on the same, saying that the battle for the wicketkeeper slot could be tricky given Jadeja's deal-breaker of an absence.
"It is a tough one for them, and probably a concern not having that left-hander. They’ve switched to leaving out DK (Dinesh Karthik) and bringing in Rishabh (Pant) in that role, batting at 5 or 4. Those are things they have to settle going into the World Cup. But not having Jadeja, the form that he was in... it will be a massive loss for them," the Sri Lanka legend added.
