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It’s time to call up the changes for Rohit & Co

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In 2015, India South Africa played in ODI Globalism Cup in Melbourne cricket a land. It was filled with a sea of ​​blue as 75,000 fans attended the game. Among them, only a handful were decorated in green and gold in Proteas, where Indian fans drew the MCG.

A similar story is expected to unfold at MCG on Sunday. It sold out just like India and Pakistan, where more than 85,000 fans are expected to attend. Just like 2015, you can only expect a handful of fans in Zimbabwe on a Sunday. But there will be a stark contrast to Sunday’s opening of this tournament. In India vs Pakistan, the fan split was 60-40. So it wasn’t a big crowd singing the national anthem. This Sunday, it will be. Expect the roar to be louder and to shake the foundations of Melbourne.

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Of course, the thing about traveling anywhere – and especially abroad – is that fans can’t help themselves from going out for team practice either. More than 2,000 fans attended India’s training before the Pakistan match, and it quickly turned into a screaming competition between the two groups of fans. For a match in Zimbabwe, the number went down but nonetheless, nearly 500-1,000 fans gathered to net the MCG on Saturday.

And all of them had one thing on their mind – Happy Birthday Virat Kohli. They sang, when he came out of the inner window, when he got dressed, when he hits when he’s standing there talking to his mates, and whatever else he did. While the fans’ attention is distracted by the different players batting and/or bowling, Kohli has been the eye snarling.

From the team’s point of view, it was a busy session. After the Pakistan game, there were other elective sessions but this one was even more vociferous about it. This is the last match before the knockout, so you don’t want to leave anything to chance. Not to mention there are a few things to iron out for first-team players. Rohit Sharma, for example, had his first networking session in two weeks. The last time he hit the net was two days before the Pakistan match.

Aside from the fast bowlers, and Axar Patel, just about everyone attended Saturday’s session at the MCG. Hardik Pandya caught the eye – he hit, hit and then hit some more. It’s not like he was working on getting his touch or shape back, or even getting his eye out. The shots were flowing well. He was hitting the ball like he was hitting the middle of the MCG. He looked good and yet he spent over 45 minutes hitting. Perhaps he needed his juices flowing, having not made an impact with the bat in previous matches, especially against Bangladesh.

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Kuala Lumpur hitter Rahul too, as did Deepak Hooda, R Ashwin, as well as Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel. Despite this, two others caught the eye. First, Yosvendra Chahal was padded and had a hitting session. It was strange because Chahal was present at every online session on this tour, optional or otherwise. So far, he has never hit a training session on this trip.

Seeing him hit the net, an obvious result formed. If India is going to make changes, this must be the game. Think about it – going to knockouts, they’ll want all of their players to be ready with time to play under their belts. There was a reason not to do it earlier – they wanted to play the same group and get enough momentum. And they did, with India on the cusp of qualification.

A simple defeat against Zimbabwe will not defeat India unless Pakistan beats Bangladesh, and even then the math will come into the picture to see if Bangladesh has a high enough run rate. Of course, South Africa also needs to defeat the Netherlands in order for India to be under any threat, if they lose to Zimbabwe. Totally improbable, and on any random day, any Indian team should have the capabilities to beat Zimbabwe. Especially in front of 85,000 fans!

Thus, this is the time to ring the changes. It looks like Chahal will probably play, and with Ashwin firing great pistols, Patel will miss the opportunity. Harshal Patel is also knocking on the door, even if Muhammad Al-Shami is unlikely to rest. Either way, does this mean that India will once again have a full lineup of right-handers? not exactly.

Just like Chahal, Pant looked exceptionally busy. With the exception of Adelaide, he was present at all training sessions, as the team management told him to be ready in case this happened. However, he never did hitting and slam drills in any one session. He did both on Saturday.

Karthik also looked less busy than he usually is, not hitting with the same intensity into the net as before. Pant comes for Karthik makes sense at this juncture, again for the logic above. You need all of your players who have time to play under their belt heading into knockouts, and the Pant has yet to appear. India’s ability to leave him on the bench is a reminder of the immense talent pool as well as the debate over whether it was the right strategy.

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Playing Pant on Sunday won’t undermine the original tactic – Karthik will return to the semi-finals. It’s just if you’ve ever wanted to give your Pant game time, now’s the time. And you can’t ask him to immediately play in knockouts after polluting his thumb for the entire tournament. Next week will be an intense lottery, whether against New Zealand in Sydney or against England in Adelaide.

India will have to do exceptionally well to revisit the MCG again next Sunday.

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