The first T20 international between India and West Indies is going to take place on Saturday at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida in US. A lot of youngsters have been brought into the squad after India’s exit in the semi-final stage of the World Cup. It is expected that India might go in with some changes to their playing XI in the first T20I against the Windies.
Former India cricketer VVS Laxman has commented on some of the changes that he wants to see in the Indian team before the first T20I in US. Laxman wants KL Rahul to return to the no. 4 spot in the team after Shikhar Dhawan’s return while admitting that he interested to see how Rishabh Pant performs in West Indies.
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“The return of Shikhar Dhawan from injury restores quality and firepower to the batting, which looks both settled and strong. I would love to see KL Rahul get a chance to extend his good form of the World Cup and bat at No. 4, and watch with keen interest how Rishabh Pant goes, now that he is a certainty across formats,” Laxman wrote in his column for The Times of India.
Laxman further went on to state that Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer might have broken into the Indian squad but they might have to wait a little longer to be considered in the playing XI as the team management could opt to play an extra bowler on a batting heaven like the ground in Lauderhill.
{{/usCountry}}Laxman further went on to state that Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer might have broken into the Indian squad but they might have to wait a little longer to be considered in the playing XI as the team management could opt to play an extra bowler on a batting heaven like the ground in Lauderhill.
{{/usCountry}}“Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer have broken open the doors to selection with a string of top performances, but unfortunate as it might seem, I feel they will still have to bide their time because I would prefer the extra bowling option for Virat to fall back on,” Laxman added.
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There is no Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni in the side as they are rested for the series in West Indies. Meanwhile, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine have made a comeback into the Windies squad and could play a crucial part in the 3-match series.