Former South Africa International pacer bowler Dale Steyn on a live show picked India’s Playing XI that he feels India should field against their arch-rival Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2021 opener.
With the T20 World Cup 2021 already underway with the round 1 matches, the excitement level is rising up, especially with a high voltage match between India and Pakistan coming up on the 24th of October.
Former South African speedster Dale Steyn during a live show on Star Sports, before India’s warm-up fixture against England, picked India’s Playing XI for the Pakistan match. Steyn was joined by former India cricketer VVS Laxman in the show.
It was VVS Laxman who had the go first. While Dale Steyn followed up with just 1 change to VVS Laxman’s team. VVS Laxman teams is as follows: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy.
The one change that Dale Steyn made to the above mentioned team is that he included Mohammed Shami in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He stated that just going by their current form, he will prefer Shami over Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
There is even questions over whether Hardik Pandya will find a slot into the team, given the all-rounder is not fit enough to bowl, but can still bat. Both VVS Laxman and Dale Steyn included him in their respective team, however, Steyn believes that Hardik Pandya can be India’s game changer, even with the bat only.
He said that even though his form is not with him; he is a fantastic player and when he take field, teams will make to plan different for Hardik Pandya. He is a game changer for India with the bowl or bat.
“Hardik Pandya is a game-changer whether he’s got bat or ball in his hand. Specifically with that bat actually. He hasn’t Bowled a lot lately, at all to be honest. I would pick him purely on his batting Alone.” – Dale Steyn (On Star Sports)
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India in T20 World Cup 2021
Indian team begins their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign in the Super 12 round with a big clash against arch-rival and neighbour Pakistan on the 24th October. India was supposed to host the tournament on their home venue, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the matches got shifted to UAE and Oman.
India is placed in Group 2 in the Super 12 round along with Pakistan, New Zealand, Afganistan and the 2 teams that will come through from the round 1.
