Harbhajan Singh predicts a change in the Indian playing XI

The Gabba crowd witnessed an enthralling encounter between India and Australia in the 1st T20I. How often do you score 11 more runs than the opposition and still lose the game? In spite of failures from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul Team India managed to come really close to winning. Owing to fantastic batting by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik.

However, the Indian bowling had earlier failed to restrict the Aussies. The likes of Khaleel Ahmed and Krunal Pandya were taken away to the cleaners by the batsmen. India cricketer and commentator Harbhajan Singh highlighted why playing Pandya over Yuzvendra Chahal wasn’t a great tactic by the Indian management. He also felt Ambati Rayudu should’ve been considered for the T20Is.

I think we will see Chahal in place of Krunal in the next game

The Turbanator was of the opinion that Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav had been stupendous as a pair. Both have constantly bamboozled the opposition batsmen and picked wickets at a magnificent rate. Harbhajan also remarked that Krunal wouldn’t be quite handy in the Australian conditions. He expected Chahal to be included in the next couple of games.

“That team combination is something that they have to look at. Whenever Kuldeep and Chahal bowled together, they have taken wickets, put pressure on the opposition. They have been quite successful as a pair. Krunal Pandya bowls a few overs here and there but in Australia, you need someone else. He doesn’t spin the ball and bowls it really fast. I think we will get to see Chahal in place of Krunal in the next game,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Rayudu over Rahul 

As the Indian skipper Virat Kohli mentioned recently, Ambati Rayudu is already considered the designated No.4 batsman on the road to World Cup. Hence, Bhajji asserted that the right-hander deserved to get as many games as possible. Rayudu ended up as the fourth highest run-scorer in the IPL this year with 602 runs.

“There are a lot of problems that need to be solved before we get into the World Cup, the spin department especially. We were talking about KL Rahul and using him as a proper batsman at number four but there is Ambati Rayudu who will be playing the World Cup. Going forward, the more number of matches he will play the better for Team India,” Harbhajan said.

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from Australia vs India series, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.