Team India is gearing up to face world champions Australia in a 3-match T20I series at home, starting Tuesday in Mohali. It will be the team’s first assignment since its failed Asia Cup 2022 campaign in the UAE. The bilateral series is going to serve as a training ground for the Men in Blue for the much-awaited T20 World Cup Down Under. However, the followers of the game are rather interested in knowing what experiment the Rohit-Dravid duo would perform in the upcoming games.
Since India’s unfortunate exit from the T20 World Cup 2021, the new team management has been trying and testing young players at different spots. After applying the hit and trial method for almost a year, 15 men have been shortlisted who are expected to correct all wrongs that happened last year in the UAE.
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The calibre of the squad will be tested when they face Australia, and later South Africa, before boarding the flight for the showpiece event.
As far as the experimentation is concerned, it’s yet to be seen if Virat Kohli, who roared back to form in the Asia Cup with his 71st century, walks out as an opener. Skipper Rohit stated at a pre-match presser that Virat will be utilised as a 3rd opener but as of now, Rahul’s spot won’t be disturbed.
When the latter was asked the same question on the eve of the 1st T20I, he gave a neutral answer.
“It will all depend upon what opposition we play, and on what surface we play. Also, we’ll go ahead as per the strategy made by the team management. Everyone is here to do their job. You have to be ready to do what’s expected from you. That’s what as players’ we are trained for and we work hard for,” said Rahul at the press conference.
Rahul admitted that the team committed mistakes at the Asia Cup which led to their early exit. However, the Indian vice-captain said the unit is aware of what went wrong and is trying to learn from it.
“Skill-wise our performance was only 80-85 percent. We are still not very good in terms of batting or excellent in bowling or fielding. There are a few things we need to fix. You can only win big events if all these are done well and the team comes together to win championship.
“At last year’s T20 World Cup and this year’s Asia Cup, the mistakes committed were different,” Rahul said.
“What happened in Asia Cup and 2021 World Cup (both early exit), we made (committed) different mistakes in those two events. We are very clear about what went wrong and we are trying to learn from it,” he added.
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