World Cup 2019: Two forced changes that India could make against Afghanistan

The necessity for effecting the second change

Hardik Pandya on a fast track mode in this World Cup

In the absence of Bhuvi, India’s real problem lies in the composition of the lower-order batting. At #8, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been an effective batsman, though not a flamboyant all-rounder like Hardik Pandya. Bhuvi is quite capable of playing to the situation and hanging around with a specialist batsman in case of a batting collapse.

The same thing cannot be said of Mohammed Shami. Shami always looks to send every ball into the orbit irrespective of the match situation. In the absence of Kumar, India’s tail starts at No 8.

The lack of firepower in the late order would be exposed while chasing. So far India has been lucky to bat first and pile up runs against Australia and Pakistan. The below-par target and Rohit Sharma’s century ensured that the late order was never exposed against South Africa.

In the upcoming matches, conditions might warrant Kohli to opt to chase. In such a scenario, India might find the going difficult if the top order fails to deliver. The middle-order consisting of MS Dhoni, Vijay Shankar, and Kedar Jadhav haven’t had enough time in the middle.