Team India doesn’t have much to worry about. Coming into Raipur, the hosts don’t have to make sweeping changes. But captain KL Rahul and head coach Gautam Gambhir might deliberate about a player or two.
The decision to play Ruturaj Gaikwad at number four didn’t look right to begin with, and the result wasn’t great either. Post Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, India lost momentum. That was primarily due to Gaikwad and Washington Sundar, both of whom looked scratchy.
Will India drop Gaikwad for Pant?
Rahul and Gambhir might think about dropping Gaikwad. The batter from Maharashtra has ability and talent, but is he the right fit at number four? All went well in Ranchi. He had entered the middle at 161/2 with 28.4 overs left, but it didn’t work. Gaikwad is used to pacing his innings as an opener; demoting him to the middle order might not be the best idea.
India had the opportunity to play Rishabh Pant or Tilak Varma, but perhaps thought bringing in a right-handed batter, like Shreyas Iyer, was the right call. On paper, Gaikwad might seem like a like-for-like replacement, but his attributes aren’t the same.
Prasidh Krishna’s performance wasn’t great either. If India thinks they need a right-handed batter at number four, Gambhir and Rahul might decide to drop Prasidh and bring in Nitish Kumar Reddy. Then, Pant might be accommodated at five, and Rahul has already been confirmed at six.
Considering Gambhir’s affinity for all-rounders, this can’t be ruled out. Even if Gaikwad isn’t dropped, we might see Nitish come in for Prasidh. If the pitch in Raipur doesn’t assist fast bowlers, we might also see Pant come in for Prasidh, considering Gambhir also likes batting depth.
India ODI squad for South Africa series
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (c & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
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