The focus will now shift to India vs Bangladesh Twenty20 Internationals after the Freedom Series. The first of the games will begin on November 3. The series will provide Indians another opportunity to build on their T20 set-up as they prepare for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Virat Kohli is resting for the rubber, according to reports. After their disappointing semi-final exit from the 50-over World Cup, the Indian captain has been involved in every single international played by India. Rohit Sharma will lead the team in his absence.
Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube likely to get a chance
The opening combination will have the normal heads. In the reckoning for the opening slot will be by skipper Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul. The stress was on Dhawan, taking into account his diminishing T20 form, leading into the South African series. Although he failed to score substantially, the left-handed batsman looked in good touch against the Proteas, scoring 76 runs in 2 games. He is likely to open with Rohit Sharma.
With Virat Kohli more than likely to rest for the series, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey will be responsible for shouldering the middle-order responsibility. Iyer had shown great skill and tendency in the small opportunities he had. Meanwhile, Pandey has had a great run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (525 runs in nine games).
The likely new faces in the T20I set-up are Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube. Although Samson has come because of his double-ton in the VHT coupled with the incumbent Rishabh Pant’s poor form, he is expected to be the squad’s second wicket-keeping choice. On the other side, in the absence of Hardik Pandya, Dube will have a great opportunity to showcase his all-round skills.
The spin bowling department should contain the usual suspects in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, and Rahul Chahar, a leg-spinner, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to return to the white ball set-up and spearhead the fast bowling attack that will feature Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar.
Predicted Indian 15-Man Squad For Bangladesh T20I series
Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey Krunal Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
