India vs England: Graeme Swann suggests India open with Virat Kohli, and continue with ‘B team’ in the second T20I

Former England spinner Graeme Swann took a cheeky jibe at India’s strong bench strength and team selection for the second and third T20Is of the series. Considering the manner in which India beat England in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl, Swann said that India might send their ‘B team’ to the T20 World Cup and win the tournament. The Indian team—considered to be a second-string team— beat England by 50 runs in the first T20I on Thursday. Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav scored at a brisk rate, as both the batters scored at a strike rate of more than 190. All-rounder Hardik Pandya performed brilliantly with the bat and ball to win the man of the match award as he scored a half-century and also bagged a four-wicket haul. Talking at the post-match show on broadcaster Sony Sports Network, Swann mocked, “India should send their B team to Australia and probably win the World Cup.” Virat Kohli , Jasprit Bumrah , Ravindra Jadeja , and Rishabh Pant were notable absentees from the match since the senior pros were given rest after the just-concluded Test match. However, they will be available from the second T20I and will make it to the playing XI despite some good performance by the current playing XI. Swann insisted that bringing in the senior players might upset the balance of the team and play in England’s favour. “I think it’s a great idea that you bring a load of players in. You got a winning team and completely change that in the 2nd game against England. I would like you to do that, India, please. Because this XI will beat England in two days’ time, even if you bring in world-class players like Bumrah, Kohli, and Pant, it upsets the balance that has played so well. “Of course, they will come back into the team because of who they are. But if you are the England team, I would be looking for any way to upset the rhythm,” While Bumrah and Jadeja are expected to replace Arshdeep Singh—who just played his debut game—and Axar Patel, Kohli might come in the place of Hooda. It will be interesting to see who goes out for Rishabh Pant since there have been talks of Dinesh Karthik replacing him as the first-choice wicket-keeper. Albeit, Swann was of the opinion that Kohli should open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. “Virat Kohli comes in, he opens the batting, instead of Kishan. That is what I would do. When you have got a player as good as Virat, you don’t want him to bat at No. 3 in the middle overs because he is not scoring as quickly as SKY or Hooda when they first come in because that’s not his game.” Swann believes that Kohli might not be able to score briskly right from the start and hence might not fit in the middle order. “When Rohit is batting so well at the other end, scoring quickly, Virat will follow and do the same thing. Kohli and Sharma score heavily at the top. Hooda and SKY (Suryakumar) can follow suit,” Swann added. Hooda, batting at number three in the last three T20Is has had scores of 47 (29), 104 (57), and 33 (17). Considering his red hot form, the management might be lured to give him a long run and establish himself. It will be worthwhile to see India’s team combination in the second and third T20Is that will be played on 9 and 10 July. The performance in this series is also expected to have an impact on the team selection for the West Indies tour. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.