Will Shami play? Suspense persists as hosts look to double the joy

chennai: Unruffled by the lingering fitness concerns surrounding Mohammed Shami, the India’s T20 team will be eyeing an encore of its opening game performance against a stunned England in the second game of a five-match series, here on Saturday.

India lead the rubber 1-0 after a facile seven-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The hosts would certainly want to see Shami in action but his inclusion in the XI, as things stand now, will depend on further evaluation of his fitness.

The 34-year-old was expected to feature in the first game and he was actively involved in the nets too, but his comeback was postponed possibly because the management wanted to take a deeper look at his readiness.

However, India did not miss Shami much in Kolkata where pacer Arshdeep Singh, with the new ball, and spinner Varun Chakravarthy, in the middle phase, wrecked England, producing impressive spells.

The Eden pitch had enough help for both quicks and their slower colleagues but the corresponding 22-yard here could offer more assistance to the spinners, as it often has been the case in the past.

India would not be complaining whatever be the nature of the track. The home side boasts of quality and variety in a line-up consisting Varun, vice-captain Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi.

From England’s perspective, they would require much better contributions from experienced spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone to challenge the Indians.

Apart from pacer Jofra Archer, none of the other English bowlers could survive the onslaught of Abhishek Sharma and the mini cameo of Sanju Samson in the first match.

Since coming together in the T20Is last year, Samson and Abhishek have had considerable success, often giving India a flying start.

The desired double-barrel firing has been occasional, but at least one of them has produced the goods rather consistently.

In Kolkata, Abhishek hurt England with a brutal knock, striking at over 230. Samson has three hundreds in the last six innings, and it would not be unrealistic to imagine these two as the first-choice openers once India hit the road to next year’s T20 World Cup at home.

They also offer that rare right-hand-left-hand combination at the top. Indian openers will have to give their side a solid start.