T20 World Cup 2021: VVS Laxman picks his India playing XI for Pakistan clash

With only three days left for India’s opening match against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, the experts and critics have started naming their predicted XIs for the high-profile clash. Aakash Chopra had earlier given his picks for the Pakistan side. Now, former India batter VVS Laxman has predicted his playing XI for the Virat Kohli-led India.  The team is coming off after two wins in their warm-up matches against England and Australia.

The batting looked solid on both the games as Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul scored heavily. India went with Kishan and Rahul as openers for their match against England, and the duo didn’t disappoint as they managed to score 70 and 51, respectively. Although Kishan managed to impress everyone in the opening slot, Laxman didn’t include him in his playing XI.

Speaking on Star Sports, the former India batter said India are spoilt for choices. Laxman went with Rahul and Rohit Sharma as his openers instead. He also included Suryakumar Yadav at number five.

“They [India] are spoilt for choices. But I will go with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul to open. No. 3 will be Virat Kohli, No. 4 will be Suryakumar Yadav, No. 5 Rishabh Pant, No. 6 Hardik Pandya, No. 7 will be Ravindra Jadeja, No. 8 will be Bhuvneshwar Kumar, No. 9 will be Bumrah”, Laxman said.

For numbers 10 and 11 Laxman has opted to go with Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar. Strangely, the cricketer-turned-expert did not included Ravichandran Ashwin in his playing XI. The all-rounder had a good match against England and Australia as he managed to pick two wickets and was also pretty economical.

“No. 10 and No. 11 will be two spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar”, he continued.

The top seven batters will be able to score a lot of runs: VVS Laxman

The former India batter further stated that the top seven batters will be able to score a lot of runs and won’t allow the tail-end batters to bat. Interestingly, Laxman had Ravindra Jadeja at number eight, who in recent times has solidified his position as a finisher in the team. But Laxman has backed the top seven batters to do the job.

“It’s a long tail but I will back the top seven to get the bulk of the runs”, he stated.