Dubai, Sept 19: The Suryakumar Yadav-led India will ideally prefer to bat first and make full use of the 20 overs when they take on an embattled Oman in their final Asia Cup group league game that will be played in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Having already qualified for the Super 4s and with one eye on the important rematch against arch-foes Pakistan on Sunday, the Oman game is a perfect opportunity for the team management to just get some wood on leather after two lopsided low-scoring chases in the first two games.While Abhishek Sharma has got a couple of blazing starts, Shubman Gill might want to bat a bit longer. Skipper Suryakumar had a good outing against Pakistan but he would like Tilak Varma to get some more batting time.
Ideally, the the middle-order lineup of Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel would all like to get some decent hit out there in the middle before the business week of the tournament commences, with four games in a space of seven days if India make it to the final.Such is the quality of the Indian bowling line-up that in case Oman bat first, there is every chance of the match finishing early as Jatinder Singh and Co. have very little chance of negotiating the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.
In Oman’s two games against Pakistan and the UAE, their batting was evidently not at its best.The two totals of 67 and 130, while chasing in a losing cause, don’t exactly paint a rosy picture. Such has been their plight that across two games, not a single batter has crossed the individual score of 30.
Hammad Mirza scored 27 against Pakistan while Aryan Bisht made a painstaking 24 off 32 balls against UAE.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir might not like to experiment too much with the line-up except for giving a bit of breather to his lethal weapon Jasprit Bumrah — that too if he chooses to — before the Super 4s.
With only four overs to bowl and well rested after the Pakistan game, Bumrah himself might not want a break that badly but one needs to be extra cautious when it comes to taking care of the “jewel in the crown”.
