Ravindra Jadeja's injury has posed a major problem for the Indian contingent. He was used as a floater in the first match vs Pakistan at number 4, and his absence is bound to disturb the team balance.
The question now is, how will replace Jadeja in the playing 11?
Deepak Hooda/Axar Patel
Both Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel are like-for-like replacements for Jadeja. They can both be used as floaters and can contribute with the ball in hand.
The only thing about their use would be that they do not present a left-handed option. Although Deepak has shown that he can bat anywhere in the order, Axar's value as a floater is still in question.
In 9 T20I matches so far, Hooda has scored 274 runs at a strike rate of 161.17. Axar, on the other hand, has 147 runs against his name in 25 matches. He has also scalped 21 wickets.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant isn't really a like-for-like replacement but is a left-hander who can bat anywhere in the batting order and can provide the side with impetus at any point during an innings.
Rishabh Pant's omission from the game against Pakistan came as a shocker to fans and many cricket pundits. Some believed that this may as well be the sign of things to come for the T20 World Cup. Now, Rahul Dravid, while speaking to the media before the 2nd India-Pakistan match, said that there is no first-choice wicketkeeper in the team or a starting eleven for every single condition.
"There's no first-choice wicketkeeper in the side. We play according to the conditions, situation, opposition and what we feel is the best XI. There's no such thing as first choice playing XI for every single condition.
He said that the team felt Dinesh Karthik was a better option in the opening game against Pakistan. "That will vary. On that day against Pakistan, we felt Dinesh was the right choice for us. But he conceded that it was difficult to leave out Pant." He also added that it is really difficult to leave anyone out, but believed that they have a very good 15-man squad and anyone can play at any time.
"It's very difficult to leave out anyone, but we are focused on picking the best XI. We have a little bit of squad culture in our side who believe that we have a very good squad of XV and anyone can play," India will next take on Pakistan on Sunday, September 4.
India Squad
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel
Pakistan Squad
Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali
