India have streamed through the group stages with four wins and go through to Super 8 stage with momentum. Their record at ICC events just keeps getting better and they already have 12 WT20 wins in a row having won the previous edition without dropping a game and have won four games here. There are a few concerns for India ahead of the Super 8 stages. Their campaign for the next stage starts against South Africa at Ahmedabad. Now, India played their final group stage match against Netherlands at the same venue and they did try and test a few things out in that match. One notable change that was made was Washington Sundar replacing Axar Patel. What does that mean for the India vice-captain Axar Patel? In this article we try to find it out.
Dew Factor - Suryakumar Yadav won the toss against Netherlands and opted to bat first. He noted at the toss that there will be dew in the second innings and he wanted his bowlers to get challenged and try and defend. This would help them in the upcoming Super 8 match in case India were asked to defend at that ground against South Africa which is set to be played at the same venue. Another change was Arshdeep Singh in place of Kuldeep Yadav and this was an obvious change in Indian conditions. Kuldeep played against Pakistan due to the conditions in Sri Lanka and it was always on the cards that Arshdeep would return as the team management feel that an extra seamer will be the way to go in these conditions.
The biggest change was playing Washington Sundar in place of Indian vice-captain Axar Patel. During the match against Netherlands, Axar was rested and Sundar played ahead of him. But was it really a rest or sign of things to come against South Africa? Netherlands had no left hander in the playing XI or even in their squad so playing an off-spinner for this game shows that India did that keeping in mind the upcoming match against South Africa.
South Africa have three left-handers in the top six and India might be tempted to play Washington Sundar ahead of Axar Patel. This could be the reason they went with Sundar ahead of Axar in the game against Netherlands. Another option if the pitch assist would be to try both Sundar and Axar in the same XI with Arshdeep out of the team. But that seems less likely. Despite Sundar not doing well against Netherlands there is a chance for him to play against South Africa. Even during the post-match when Suryakumar was speaking about the team he said Sundar or Axar Patel whoever plays will add depth to the lineup suggesting that the team was open to play horses for courses in this game.
