The practice matches are done and dusted. It's time for the real action as India take on Pakistan in their opening Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. The Men in Blue scored a six-run win over Australia in their first warm-up match, while the second one against New Zealand was washed out. The Indians had also won one practice game against Western Australia while losing the second one.
One big talking point ahead of the Pakistan clash is who will be India's third seamer? Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are certainties in the playing eleven, while seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya is assured of a spot in the playing eleven. That means Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh will fight it out for the specialist third seamer's role.
It's safe to assume that the Indian team management won't gamble with Pandya and go in with just four specialist bowlers. Five bowlers plus Pandya could well be Rohit Sharma's preferred combination in the opening game.
The Indian batting looks in fine fettle and the think tank will be keen to strengthen the bowling department. Veteran offie R Ashwin and leggie Yuzvendra Chahal should feature in the eleven. There is nothing much to choose between left-arm seamer Arshdeep and right-arm medium-pacer Harshal Patel. Arshdeep's ability to bowl yorkers at the death plus the fact that he's a left-armer works to his advantage. Harshal, on the other hand, has shown signs of slowly getting back to his best. The Haryana player is a handy lower order batter and is a much better fielder as compared to rookie Arshdeep.
The last time India met Pakistan was in the Super 4 encounter of the Asia Cup, where Arshdeep dropped a sitter to hand Asif Ali a reprieve during a vital stage of the chase. Though Arsheep bowled a brilliant final over he could not deny Pakistan. Arshdeep was at the receiving end of online abuse after missing the dolly.
Will Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid pick Arshdeep for the high-pressure game? The Indians might go in with Arshdeep for the simple reason that he offers them variety.
