I don’t see Afghanistan series as a selection series for T20 World Cup 2024: Parthiv Patel

India will lock horns in the third and final T20I with Afghanistan at the Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight in Bengaluru, after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. JioCinema and Sports18 experts Saba Karim and Parthiv Patel spoke about the transition of Mukesh Sharma’s role in the death overs and India’s strategy going into the final match. Excerpts: 

On Mukesh Kumar’s role shifting towards the death overs 

Parthiv Patel: I think he can definitely bowl in the powerplay, he has got the skill. He has played a lot of first-class cricket and knows which length to bowl, he is not a swing bowler. He is someone who hits the seam and hits that back-of-length kind of deliveries. However, he has improved a lot as a death bowler. India can look at batting first in the 3^rd T20I and put the opposition under pressure. One odd game here and there, you can’t question someone’s abilities but Mukesh Kumar has definitely improved as a death bowler.

On India opting to defend a total at the Chinnaswamy stadium

Saba Karim: I hope they do that in Bengaluru. Not only to put the bowlers under scanner but also to check the depth of your batting. Players like Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, who come down the order, may get a look in. Then you can understand if you want to play three seamers or spinners in the playing XI, once Hardik Pandya comes in.

Parthiv Patel: We can also look at preparing a slower wicket. The upcoming T20 World Cup will be held in the USA and West Indies where slower wickets are expected. The players can be tested for similar conditions. We all know that Chinnaswamy is a flat batting wicket, but that wicket can also turn and India can look at doing that.  That’s how you can test your players and build the squad for the World Cup.

On the importance for India for Rohit Sharma to get a good score at the Chinnaswamy stadium

Parthiv Patel: I don’t see this series as a selection series for the World Cup. I don’t think any player performing or not will impact their chances of World Cup selection, specially when you are talking about Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. Once you have picked them for the series, it means they are going for the World Cup. For Rohit Sharma personally, he would like to score runs. He likes to set the tone and if he gets in, he would like to make it a big one.