Dubai: India head coach Ravi Shastri, who is on his last assignment with the Indian team, reckoned that Indian cricket team does not need to prepare separately before the T20 World Cup. Shastri said that IPL has been an ideal preparatory ground for the Indian players, most of them were regulars for their respective franchises, as a result, the boys will not have any problem.
“The boys have been playing cricket for the last two months. Played here in IPL. I don’t think they need any preparation separately. It is more important for them to be together than that. It’s more about them getting together and adapting together. Get some rhythm going, some energy going, that is what is needed now,” Shastri told Deep Dasgupta during an interaction for official broadcasters Star Sports.
Shastri also went on to further reveal that the dew factor would also decide whether the Indian team would opt for an extra seamer or go with a spinning option that can turn out to be very critical in the context of the match. Adding that the primary objective of the two warm-up games against England and Australia on October 20 is to understand how the players are placed in terms of form and rhythm.
“We’ll just see how things go and work a combination around. We’ll just try to see how much dew is around and accordingly decide to bat/bowl first. Also helps us decide about playing an extra spinner or seamer.” he added.
Asked about the specific gains he is eyeing from the warm-up games, Shastri said: “Everyone can bat, everyone can bowl in this game. So it will help us to get an idea about who is doing how.” he signed off.
India played their first warm-up match against England on Monday. After having won the toss, India elected to field first. England posted the target of 189 wherein India’s KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan provided steady starts and led the team to victory. India will officially open their campaign for T20 World Cup on October 24th against Pakistan.
