Suryakumar and Co look to tick all boxes before T20 WC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fourty overs. 240 legitimate balls. One T20I match. Irrespective of how one puts it, that is all India men have in front of them before their team moves to Mumbai for the T20 World Cup. In other words, they have one game-day — the fifth T20I match against Thiruvananthapuram — to tick a few boxes with the squad in front of them.After a short first stint, he went away, did some fielding drills while Kishan continued to hit bowlers into stands. Then he came back for another hit while Kishan was doing keeping drills in the nets next to him. Though these two players are potentially auditioning for one spot, the injury to Tilak Varma has allowed them both to play. Kishan has runs to show for and the team would want the same from Samson on Saturday.The batting order, as things stand, looks very settled with everyone chipping in. Abhishek Sharma has gotten runs, and so has Suryakumar Yadav. Shreyas Iyer spent another hour hitting the ball everywhere, but it is unlikely that he will play. The captain and head coach have made it clear that they want to field players who are part of the T20 World Cup.The important matches come at a later stage during the Super 8s. And even if they needed a readymade replacement, this team management has given Ravi Bishnoi some crucial game time in this series. Given that, Varun Chakravarthy may get a game on Saturday, but this time, it is the bowling combination they are likely to tinker with. Kotak said they have ticked most boxes they wanted to in the ongoing series and the one against New Zealand. “I think it’s been very important for us. It is obviously useful because before the World Cup, the more days you play, you kind of start getting into a rhythm, you start finding the combinations, and you try and give players an opportunity. All that you can do when we are playing. So, these five games, and obviously before that, South Africa is also very useful for us,” he said on Friday.

Now, all they would be hoping for is one final good show before the big tournament begins

The two World Cup-bound players who are not with the squad are Washington Sundar and Tilak Varma. While the latter is likely to join the team in Mumbai, even if the former does not get fit in time for the game against the United States, they may not hurry to replace him.

On Saturday, the first thing they would hope for is some runs from Sanju Samson. The opener has been written and talked about a lot, and it will continue to be the case, considering this will be his first international match at his home ground. As for Kishan, who missed the match in Visakhapatnam, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that he is likely to play. And going by the training session, he should walk in at No. 3. Then there is Axar Patel, who too faced net bowlers and throwdowns from the coaching staff. The vice-captain did not play in the last three matches and was recovering from a finger injury. He might be a shoo-in with either Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube getting some rest. Both Pandya and Dube didn’t bowl in the fourth T20I as India played five frontline bowlers, but expect at least one of them to take the ball on Saturday.