The clash between India and the Netherlands will conclude the matches in Group A in the ongoing T20 World Cup today. The match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, even as Team India will look to get used to the conditions ahead of their Super 8 clash against South Africa, who have already played three matches at the venue in the group stage. But will India make any changes to their playing XI and rest a few players ahead of the Super 8 round?
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak confirmed on the eve of the match that the hosts are unlikely to experiment much, which rules out the possibility of Jasprit Bumrah or Hardik Pandya being rested. However, India are likely to drop Kuldeep Yadav from their line-up in favour of a pacer after being included for the Pakistan clash in Colombo.
The reason for the same is the record of the spinners at the Narendra Modi Stadium at the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Ahmedabad has been kind to batters in the T20 World Cup so far
The venue has so far hosted three matches in the mega event and has recorded the highest run-rate of 9.38. The average first innings score here in three matches is 192 and the spinners have borne the brunt of the batters on most occasions. They have conceded 9.34 runs per over in the World Cup in Ahmedabad and have averaged 41.1 in these games.
For this sole reason, Kuldeep could be the man to make way for Arshdeep Singh in the playing XI. The other two spinners - Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy - are preferred ahead of Kuldeep, with one being the vice-captain and all-rounder while the other is a genuine wicket-taker and match-winner in any conditions due to his mystery.
India's probable playing XI vs Netherlands: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakarvarthy
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