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Every team is now focusing on the upcoming mega event, i.e. the T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this year. The global showpiece event was originally slated to occur in India, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to shift the competition to UAE.
Since India will be the host of the tournament, fans would expect them to perform well. There will be pressure on Virat Kohli as well because he hasn’t yet led Team India to win an ICC trophy. The last time India claimed an ICC title was in 2013 when the ‘Men in Blue’ won the Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni‘s leadership.
Ahead of the mega show, many experts have started releasing their predictions and analysis of various sides. Following the bandwagon, former Australia international Brad Hogg has revealed his India XI for the T20 World Cup.
Starting with the openers, Hogg has chosen the most experienced pair in the Indian team, Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In the recent past, Kohli has opened a few times with Rohit, and the team has done relatively well in those matches.
Hogg also explained the logic behind opening the innings with Kohli, stating that India need some attacking players in the middle, so the skipper has to come up in the batting order.
“My Indian team going into the T20 World Cup would have Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opening the batting. I might be a bit harsh on Shikhar Dhawan, but they need some attacking players in the middle-order, and so they need to push Kohli up the order,” said Hogg on his YouTube channel.
For the middle-order, Hogg went with India’s latest sensation Suryakumar Yadav and white-ball specialist KL Rahul. Similarly, for the lower-order, the 50-year-old picked Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Hogg named Rishabh Pant as his wicketkeeper-batsman on the Indian side. He explained that Pant would be there to accelerate the run-rate in case of early wicket fall.
“I would keep him as a floater. If there is a wicket falling in the seventh over, I will send him up the order at dominate against spin,” added Hogg.
When it comes to the bowling attack, the Western Australian picked the pace battery of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur. He went with Yuzvendra Chahal as the lone spinner on the side.
Here is Brad Hogg’s India XI:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.
