It's all about the right combination - Predicting the XI for India in World T20

Lower order and bowling combination

Can Amit Mishra rise above the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin?

No.8 and No.9 (If India plays seven specialist batsmen): In this scenario, both the spinning all-rounders Jadeja and Ashwin are likely to grab the No.8 and No.9 positions effectively considering that it is pretty unlikely that all-rounder Stuart Binny will feature in the scheme of things since his medium pace option will prove to be less effective in the spin friendly conditions of Bangladesh.

No.8 and No.9 (If India plays with six specialist batsmen): Here, Ravichandran Ashwin is obviously expected to bat at No.8 with one of the specialist bowlers batting at No.9.

No.9,No.10 and No.11: Considering the tournament is happening in Bangladesh, it would be more effective to go in with 3 specialist spinners in the form of left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra. However, if the skipper decides to play with 7 specialist batsmen and decides to utilize the spin bowling abilities of Yuvraj (left-arm spin) and Raina (off-spin), then Mishra is clearly going to miss out in the final XI (due to the better batting and fielding abilities of Jadeja and Ashwin).

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known to have a preference of going in with 3 specialist fast bowlers in the shorter formats more often that not, but considering the conditions and going by his latest interview where he spoke about possibly going with just 2 seamers, it would be interesting to see what happens.

Whereas Shami is a natural pick, it remains to be seen whether Varun Aaron has done enough to be selected ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar

While Mohammed Shami is an obvious choice to lead the pace attack, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Aaron would be fighting for the second slot, unless all 3 are included in the line-up. The former has been terribly out of form off late while Varun has the ability to generate some good pace but may also end up generously leaking runs in favour of the opposition if he is having an off day at the office.

But all in all, of the two, I would go in with Varun along with Shami. Mohit Sharma is likely to get a look-in only if India fields a 3 man pace attack with Mohit playing ahead of Bhuvneshwar.

Let’s hope that the skipper and team management does get the right combination and gets back to their winning ways and brings the exciting trophy back home yet again.

My Preferred XI - Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron