Former India keeper-batter Saba Karim said that he was highly optimistic about India batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul coming into form at the right time as the Men in Blue aim to begin their Asia Cup 2022 on a high as they clash with Pakistan on August 28 in Dubai.
KL Rahul recently made his India comeback against Zimbabwe after being out since June and Kohli had a 3-week break after the England tour as he tried to get some time off from struggling with the bat on the tour.
Saba Karim talked about his pick for the Indian top-order for the Asia Cup picking Rahul and Kohli with Rohit Sharma opening the innings.
"My top order is captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli. And I'm backing experience to do well against a big team like Pakistan and also in an important tournament like Asia Cup. I can understand that Virat Kohli has struggled with form.
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KL Rahul, would love to see him get more runs but I still feel that both Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, if they undergo 2-3 good practice sessions, I'm sure they'll get back to form at the right time for India," said Karim.
He also said that he will use Suryakumar Yadav as a floater in the playing XI given he is adept at playing both spinners and pace bowlers and can get going from ball one.
He said: "Suryakumar Yadav is such a multi-dimensional player, I can keep him as a floater. I can push him up the order, if my two openers bat say till the 7th-8th over, I can push in SKY then. Or in case it is required, I can also push him down the order because he's such a player who can give me value at whatever number he bats and I'm looking at my 4-5-6 as floaters."
Saba Karim also went with Rishabh Pant over Dinesh Karthik in the Indian playing XI given that KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma opened the innings as per his picks.
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"Well in my 11, I could've only picked one wicketkeeper batter, because if I'm getting in KL Rahul and Virat Kohli that leaves me with the choice of picking only one player between Dinesh Kartik and Rishabh Pant. I've gone ahead with Rishabh Pant because he's such an X-Factor for India and I can see him delivering some stellar performances even this Asia Cup," said Karim.
"I'm also preferring a combination which allows me to play five wicket-taking bowlers. On top of that, I have Hardik Pandya as my sixth bowling option. So, if I go in with this kind of combination then I don't have space for two wicketkeepers,” he signed off.
(IANS inputs)
