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Cricket Players'You've got to take out the old blood who can't get that strike rate up': Hogg suggests changes for India in 2nd T20I
India vs England: Brad Hogg weighed in on the bigger picture, explaining how it's time for India to bank more on their youngsters.
After they went down to England comprehensively in the first T20I on Friday, former Australia spinner Brad Hogg feels India need to change their Playing XI and bolster their batting up front. Hogg reckons it may not be a bad idea for India to open the batting with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and leave out Shikhar Dhawan. The suggestion stems from the belief that Kohli opening the innings along with Rahul can give India the early momentum they need at the top of the order.
“What I’ve come up with the batting line up for India coming in against this England line up is Rahul opening with Virat Kohli. Kohli is a little bit conservative and he likes to time the ball so get him in that Powerplay with the six overs, where he can pierce the infield. He doesn’t come in and have to face the slower bowlers after six overs, or there could be a chance there where he just pushed it around and takes his time against spin,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
For the all-important No. 3 position, Hogg feels India should give Ishan Kishan a chance, believing that the young batsman can fare well against the pace of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Jordan. With Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to follow in the middle order, Hogg is confident that this combination of youngsters in the team can work wonders for India.
“I’d have Kishan come in at No. 3 because of his aggressiveness and his success against quick bowlers over 140, and then I’ll keep Iyer, Pant and Hardik in this line up. Now they want to play an aggressive brand of cricket. They want to change their tactics because they’re up against a good team in T20 cricket,” Hogg added.
Hogg weighed in on the bigger picture, explaining how it's time for India to bank more on their youngsters. Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav are the two uncapped batsmen in India's squad, and Hogg feels the 'new blood' should be tried out given the T20 World Cup lined up later this year, followed by back-to-back ICC events in 2022 and 2023.
“You’ve got to change your line-up, you’ve got to take out the old blood who can’t get that strike rate up. Bring in the new blood who can and have delivered in IPL. Give them the opportunity right now before the World Cup because if Ishan can deliver, then you’ve got Iyer and Pant, both of whom are very good against pace and Hardik Pandya at the bottom there to finish off the innings,” Hogg pointed out.
