Thus far, India have opted for a combination of three fast bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh – along with two spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, in their starting eleven.
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Fleming, during the ‘ESPNCricinfo Timeout show’, stated, “I would think maybe Kuldeep would come in to provide that extra bit of wicket-taking flair if the wickets do provide the turn as they get a little bit more used and you get closer to the end of the tournament.”
According to PTI, Fleming also emphasized the importance of adaptability, saying, “But they’ve still got that opportunity now to do both which is good and horses for courses, you can’t be so set in one way of playing that you miss the opportunities to take advantage of conditions.”
Having topped Group A, India have advanced to the Super 8 stage, where they will face Afghanistan in Barbados on Thursday in their first match of the tournament’s second phase.
‘Incredibly dangerous Jadeja’
India’s selection of two left-arm spin all-rounders, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, has been a topic of discussion. While Axar has been among the wickets, Jadeja has not yet made a significant impact, bowling only three overs in three matches. Stephen Fleming, the long-time coach of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, sees no issue with playing two players with similar skill sets.
Fleming draws a comparison to his experience with CSK, where Mitchell Santner and Jadeja often play similar roles. He acknowledges that it can be challenging to allocate eight overs between them due to their similar skill sets. However, he emphasizes that both Jadeja and Axar can be highly effective in the right conditions, with Jadeja being incredibly dangerous and Axar providing a different type of attack in slightly different conditions.
“So, there are subtleties around them both but again, and I hate that notion of left-handers can’t bowl to left-hand batters so we can dispel that myth and both of those players can hopefully play along.”
India faced tough decisions in their team selection, with talented players like Yashasvi Jaiswal missing out due to the presence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as openers and Rishabh Pant batting at number 3. Fleming believes that India has made smart choices in their team composition, considering the potential for spin-friendly conditions in the West Indies.
“This is a team that in some ways is picked for the finals in my view, it’s a team that has spinners that can dominate, it has players that can dominate spin and we’ve seen spin in the West Indies play quite a big part, not so much in New York.
“So, I think they’ve got job done and they’ve got quite smartly a view of mind, this is how we want to play the key games now going into hopefully the semi-finals and final.
“…they’ve picked a team that they think may be playing a turning track, this will give us our best chance at the top and has good balance and we’ve seen that sort of in stops and starts and it’s just been because of conditions but I think they’re in good shape.”