In an unexpected turnaround, India lost the first T20I against Australia by three wickets in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Now, the Men in Blue will aim to hit back and avoid a second consecutive series defeat, when they welcome the Aussies to the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday (February 27) for the second T20I.
Ahead of the must-win tie for the home side, former Indian cricketer, Ajay Jadeja has predicted that Virat Kohli will make some key changes in the playing XI and there could be as many as three of them.
Jadeja feels that Rohit Sharma might be rested to make way for Shikhar Dhawan in the second T20I. India rested Dhawan for the series opener and gave KL Rahul a chance, and the latter grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he scored a blazing 50 off 36 balls laced by six fours and a six.
The former India skipper, who was a specialist in the 50-overs format, also feels that either Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik could be rested in Bengaluru and Vijay Shankar could get a game.
Both Pant and Karthik failed in the first T20I with the former coming under criticism for getting run-out. Jadeja also believes that seam bowler Siddharth Kaul could get a call in place of Umesh Yadav who failed to bowl the final over successfully in Visakhapatnam.
“Maybe Rohit gets a rest. Not because of his performance. Kohli sicks to three. Rishabh Pant had one game, MS Dhoni had one game, Krunal Pandya has just come in. Vijay Shankar is someone who played at No.3 in Kohli’s absence, but now he is not there in the side.
Siddharth Kaul will certainly get a game and Umesh will be rested. Jasprit Bumrah will play, Yuzvendra Chahal will play and Markande will play. So either of Pant or Karthik will be rested for Shankar,” Jadeja was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
