Final touches: India look to fix batting order in final warm-up game vs Australia

Dubai, October 19

Their preparations for the T20 World Cup off to a smooth start, India would look to finalise their batting order when they take on Australia in their second and final warm-up game here on Wednesday.

India will clash against Pakistan in their World Cup opener on Sunday. The tournament will be Virat Kohli’s last as skipper in the format besides being the swan song for head coach Ravi Shastri.

As pointed out by Kohli before the warm-up game against England, India’s top-3 is already settled with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma opening the batting and the skipper coming in at the crucial No. 3 position.

Having made 70 off 46 before retiring in the seven-wicket win over England, the young Ishan Kishan has also staked his claim for a place in the playing eleven.

Rishabh Pant (29 not out) was promoted ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and it remains to be seen where the latter bats on Wednesday.

Rohit didn’t bat against England but he is expected to get a go against Australia.

The talking point, however, remains all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who didn’t look comfortable during his brief stay at the crease against England. With Pandya not bowling, it remains to be seen whether he will be included in the playing eleven purely as a batter. If so, India will miss the sixth bowling option in case one of the five-strong attack has a poor day on the field.

Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy are expected to play against Australia. — PTI

Dhoni brings calm to dressing room: KL Rahul

Dubai: Picking Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s brains is on KL Rahul’s agenda for the next few weeks as he wants to utilise every bit of advice from the Team India mentor, who, according to the opener, always brings a sense of calm into the dressing room. Rahul, who is all set to open with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup, in which India would start their campaign against Pakistan on Sunday, said there couldn’t have been a better “mentor” than Dhoni in what promises to be a tough journey.

“Obviously, MS Dhoni back with the team feels amazing because we have played under him and we have looked towards him as a mentor even when he was our captain,” Rahul, who scored a fine half-century in the warm-up game against England, said during a promotional event.

Rahul described Dhoni as a man everyone looks up to. “We loved having him in the dressing room when he was the captain. We loved the calmness. We have all looked up to him to help us out, to have him here is amazing,” Rahul said.

“This gives us a sense of calmness, I have enjoyed spending time with him in the first two to three days and it has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to chewing his brain about cricket, captaincy and all things cricket,” he added.

Dhoni recently led Chennai Super Kings to their fourth IPL title and there is a chance that he would figure in the tournament for one last time in 2022. PTI

Shakib shines

Al Amerat (Oman): Richie Berrington scored 70 runs while Josh Davey snapped four wickets as Scotland inched closer to the Super 12s with a 17-run win over Papua New Guinea in their Group B match of the ICC T20 World Cup. Scotland grabbed the top position in Group B with two wins. In the second Group B match of the day, Shakib Al Hasan scored 42 off 29 before taking 3/28 as Bangladesh beat Oman by 26 runs. Oman bowled out Bangladesh for 153. In response, the co-hosts could only manage 127/9. PTI