India’s clash with West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-final is a virtual quarter-final. To strengthen the bowling, there is a possibility of including spinner Kuldeep Yadav in place of Shivam Dubey in the team.
Kolkata: Team India will face the strong West Indies tomorrow to secure a semi-final berth in the T20 World Cup. This match to be held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata is in a way a ‘virtual quarter final’. The team that wins will go straight to the semi-finals and the journey of the losing team will end here. Although India had lost to South Africa, the team has shown its strength with a big win against Zimbabwe. But against a powerful team like West Indies, India can make some major changes in its playing eleven.
The biggest concern for the team management is the performance of the sixth bowler. Shivam Dubey, who played this role in the last three matches, has proved to be very expensive. The team believes that having Dubey bowl against the explosive batting line-up of West Indies could be suicide. Therefore, there is every possibility of specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav being included in the team in place of Dubey.
It is believed that Kuldeep’s spin on the Eden Gardens pitch can give a big advantage to India. But with the arrival of Kuldeep, the batting will become a little weak. After Axar Patel at number seven, there will not be much depth left in the batting line-up. In such a situation, it is also being seen whether Washington Sundar can get a chance in place of Dubey.
Talking about batting, the changes made against Zimbabwe were beneficial for the team. In such a situation, it is expected that the pair of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will open against West Indies also. Ishan Kishan will come at number three, while Suryakumar Yadav will come at number four. He will be followed by Hardik Pandya and Tilak Verma. South Africa from Group-1 and England from Group-2 have already reached the semi-finals. By winning tomorrow’s match, India will also cement its place. The Kolkata pitch is considered a batsman’s paradise, so fans can expect a high-scoring and exciting match.