“The other big decision will be what to do with Hardik Pandya. I think if he is going to be in the playing XI, he has to be able to give two or three overs to Virat. You need to have at least one over in the powerplay. And then ideally some more in the middle overs,” Raina wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday.
Raina, the only Indian to score a century in the men’s T20 World Cup, said, “Otherwise, you have other guys who can come. Ishan Kishan batted really well in the IPL and practice games so he could add a lot.” .
The 34-year-old said he would not be surprised if off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is included in the playing XI in place of Varun Chakraborty as New Zealand have many left-handed batsmen. “On the bowling side, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ravichandran Ashwin getting a chance as New Zealand have a lot of left-handers and he can be very useful against them. This could be enough to get him ahead of Varun Chakravarthy. . “
Raina said openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will have to come out well after being dismissed cheaply in the match against Pakistan. “We have match winners in our team, but we need KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. If they can score quick runs, Virat Kohli can come and play and people like Suryakumar. Yadav and Rishabh Pant will attack.”
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