Before the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, the problem of India’s sixth bowler seems to be going away. Virat Kohli could become the team’s 6th or 7th bowling option in the T20 International series against Australia and South Africa. If this happens then Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik can also be seen playing together.
The special thing is that two days ago, Indian captain Rohit Sharma called Virat Kohli a back-up opener. On the eve of the first T20 International against Australia in Mohali, the former Indian cricket team captain also practiced bowling for at least 30 minutes after facing Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav in the nets.
Kohli also bowled an over against Hong Kong in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022. Virat Kohli also troubled Axar Patel, who was batting once or twice during the bowling. During this, coach Rahul Dravid was also watching him.
Spotlight on Axar Patel
Axar Patel, who replaced the injured Ravindra Jadeja, had a long batting session. 28-year-old Axar Patel has always been Jadeja’s back-up and whenever he was called, he did his job well. Apart from Kohli’s balls, Axar mostly faced spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Look who’s opening bowling tomorrow 🤪 #IndvsAus @imVkohli @BCCI #viratkohli #virat #kohli #cricket #fans #TeamIndia #India pic.twitter.com/bR2W9mqZD9
— Punjab Cricket Association (@pcacricket) September 19, 2022
The way the Indian cricket team is experimenting, we can see that the left-handed batsman can be used as a floater in the batting order against spinners. Against South Africa in Cuttack earlier this year, India sent Axar to bat in the 13th over before sending Dinesh Karthik as a finisher during the death overs.
Jasprit Bumrah troubled his teammates with his pace
Jasprit Bumrah, who was returning after recovering from a back injury during the net session, was doing what he is known for. He was seen enjoying the bowling by troubling the batsmen. Jasprit Bumrah troubled both Kohli and KL Rahul several times before bowling to Hardik Pandya .
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah also spent about half an hour with the net bowlers of the Punjab Cricket Association. He was seen giving advice to 6-7 fast bowlers. He was telling them, this one was good, put a little further. Then he went to the last net. There Bhuvneshwar Kumar was batting.
He made a few throwdowns to his fellow pacer before the end of the session. Dinesh Karthik did not get many hits, while Deepak Hooda did not participate in the net session. Rishabh Pant practices his power-hitting. He was wearing wicketkeeping gloves during the fielding session.
