Pune, March 26
The talented Suryakumar Yadav is likely to get a chance to showcase his ‘360 degree’ hitting skills when India take on England in the second ODI here tomorrow, aiming to wrap up the series.
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Shreyas Iyer’s dislocated shoulder has once again brought Yadav in focus and his ODI debut, after a blockbuster T20 first outing, looks imminent after an all-round show by the hosts ensured an easy victory in the first game.
Iyer has been one of India’s most prolific 50-over batsmen before the Covid-forced lockdown but such is the team’s strength that a debutant looks ready to take on world champions England, who are very menacing but seem utterly confused.
Being spoilt for choices is always good and skipper Virat Kohli will be more pleased than anyone else. Kohli has not had Ravindra Jadeja’s services for close to three months but Axar Patel in the Tests and Krunal Pandya in the ODIs has let the team miss Jadeja.
Impressive debut
Prasidh Krishna looked completely at home on his ODI debut, hurrying batsmen with pace.
“He has a great sense of the game, it’s not just his skill but how he understands and reads the game. He is a very keen learner and he is, like I said, very brave,” said KL Rahul ahead of the match.
The biggest positive during the opening game was Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form with a match-winning 98. He was under pressure after being benched for a large part of the T20 series. The elegant southpaw would be raring to go. Rohit Sharma had sustained a blow to his elbow during the first match but is expected to be fit.
In case India want to give Rohit a short, Shubman Gill could open with Dhawan.
Meanwhile, England captain Eoin Morgan was ruled out of the match due to a thumb injury he suffered in the first match.
