After the loss in the first warm-up game against New Zealand, the Indian team delivered a vintage performance against Bangladesh as they romped home by a convincing margin of 95 runs. MS Dhoni and KL Rahul were the stars as were the wrist-spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. However, there are concerns with India's opening combination in Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
Barring Shikhar Dhawan, India does not have any other left-hander in the top order and this is one cushion, former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar believes could have been useful. However, the maestro is quick to add that the side has enough firepower in its ranks to nullify this absence in the tournament.
"Ideally left-right combination is something which disturbs the bowler's line and length and also the captain has to readjust his fielding," Tendulkar was as quoted by Reuters.
'We have some solid batters'
"But if you have good quality batters, which we do, then it really doesn't matter whether it is a left-hand right-hand combination. We have some solid batters who can deliver the punch," he further added.
Sachin also spoke about India's bowling attack and said that the side is well-rounded and has a number of different options to choose from. He cited the example of fast bowlers and wrist spinners and assessed that it makes Kohli's side one of the most balanced sides in the tournament.
"We have someone like Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) who swings the ball, (Mohammed) Shami who is skiddy off the pitch, Bumrah who is the number one bowler in the world in this format," Sachin said.
India's wrist-spinners have been Kohli's biggest game-changers with the ball in the past and this World Cup should not be any different, an assessment which has found the backing of Tendulkar.
"We have someone like Chahal and Kuldeep who are wrist-spinners. So there is variety also in the middle overs. Ravindra Jadeja can keep things tight," the batting maestro added.
Any discussion on World Cup will be incomplete without the mention of MS Dhoni and Sachin too believes that the seasoned campaigner will be a critical cog for Virat Kohli, both as a player and as a tactician. He believes that Kohli can bounce off ideas from Dhoni when the going gets tough and this is what the wicket-keeper batsman brings to the table.
"It's important that someone who's standing behind the wickets has played for such a long time and has also led India and is in the best possible position to figure out what's happening off the surface," Sachin said.
