Kedar\, Shankar\'s lack of game time a worry for India

Kedar, Shankar's lack of game time a worry for India

Press Trust of India  |  Cardiff 

The top-order will ideally like an extended session in the middle but injured and Vijay Shankar's lack of game time will certainly be a bigger worry for ahead of their final warm-up game against here Tuesday.

The top heavy Indian line-up flattered to deceive in bowling-friendly conditions at the Oval as troubled them with both swing and seam movement.

The six-wicket defeat against however won't be a big worry for Virat Kohli as he has some bigger issues to take care of.

Kohli is bound to be a worried man if and Shankar are unable to get a decent hit against Mashrafe Mortaza's men before facing a tricky opposition like in its tournament opener at on June 5.

India's primary objective during the practice games is to fix their middle-order problems but the two protagonists, who are likely to fill in the important Nos 4 and 6 in the tournament proper, have not fully recovered from their

While Kedar injured his left shoulder during the IPL, Shankar was hit in the nets by a Khaleel Ahmed short ball.

This, however, is a Godsend opportunity for KL Rahul to score some useful runs against an attack comprising Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahaman, and and cement the No 4 slot. Unless Ravi Shastri and Kohli decide to promote and check him out.

Shakib is recovering from a expects him to play a pivotal role in the Tigers' campaign.

Rohit and Shikhar, who have enjoyed a decent amount of success against Bangladesh, won't mind some runs which is always a confidence booster ahead of the main event.

If the conditions in remain overcast, playing out a testing first spell of Mustafizur or Rubel will certainly keep the top-order batsmen in good stead.

Apart from Rahul, the other who will like to assert himself in the middle will be Ravindra Jadeja, who was the only saving grace in the first warm-up game.

While Jadeja's core strength remains batting, his accurate and razor sharp fielding will keep on toes once he gets hundred percent fit.

An interesting move in the first game was to send Hardik Pandya at No 5 ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who literally struggled in tough batting conditions scoring 17 off 42 balls.

If Hardik is seen as an enforcer at No 5 and Dhoni as a finisher at No 6, the second down slot will become all the more pivotal in the larger context as Rahul, Karthik or Shankar, whoever fits in will have to play the role of a sheet anchor.

The bowlers did a decent job in the first outing with both and being sharp and economical but a good spell from Kuldeep Yadav is likely to keep him in good head space after a dismal IPL.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav

Bangladesh: (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Raaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed.

Match starts 3 PM IST.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, May 27 2019. 18:55 IST