Former Indian cricketer-turned-cricket pundit Wasim Jaffer called for Akshar Patel’s inclusion in Team India’s playing XI for the second ODI against Bangladesh to be played in Dhaka on December 7.
The former opener believes that Patel should be picked over Kuldeep Sen, keeping in mind the pitches in Bangladesh suit spinners better. Notably, Akshar didn't play in India’s 1-wicket defeat in the first ODI on December 4 due to a niggle.
Wasim Jaffer was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo: “I think I’ll bring Akshar Patel in for Kuldeep Sen. Looking at the larger picture since we’re approaching the World Cup. You’ve got 20-25 games before that and I think you want to make sure that Akshar gets most of the game time.”
He continued, “And on such pitches, spinners are going to do a lot of damage. We’ve seen that with Shakib. Shahbaz is very new. But you need a serious spinner like Akshar to come in and maybe you should think of playing Umran Malik as well, maybe for somebody, alongside Deepak and Siraj.”
Meanwhile, Jaffer further advised the Indian batters to bat better against Shakib Al Hasan and Ebadot Hossain if they want to make comeback and win the ODI series in Bangladesh.
The 44-year-old added, “I think they need to bat a little bit better against Shakib al Hasan and Ebadot Hossain, even Mustafizur for that matter. Especially Shakib, because if you don’t give wickets to Shakib, then it puts pressure on the other bowlers. Being an off-spinner, there are restrictions, but Shakib is the main guy. If we bat well against him and don’t give him wickets, I’m sure India will do well.”
However, Jaffer believes that the Men in Blue will bounce back in the second ODI while predicting another low-scoring encounter in Dhaka.
He signed off by saying, “One bad day for them but you can expect Rohit Sharma and company to bounce back. I don’t see a very high-scoring game. I’m thinking anything around 230-240. But India need to bat better than they did in the first game.”
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
