One of the major reasons behind India’s failure in the ICC tournaments in recent years has been a batting collapse. Even in the previous edition of the 2019 World Cup, India’s batting had clicked up until the semifinal where they found their top-order being blown away by the opposition bowlers and were eventually left short of their target. Now as India gears up for two big-ticket events in the coming days, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar reckons the Men in Blue are preparing for a scenario where in they lose Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli early.

Bangar came to that conclusion based on his reading of the pairs that were spotted batting together during the match simulation at the team camp in Alur. While the expected pairs as per the batting order Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer did bat together, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were also seen batting together while Gill and Iyer also practiced together. Bangar welcomed this move by the Rahul Dravid-led coaching staff.

“You must have noticed that Shreyas and Gill batted together. I think it is in the anticipation where Rohit and Virat get dismissed early, Iyer and Gill will have to bat together. Or, where the no.4 batter is dismissed early and Virat Kohli is on the crease, and a left-hander is promoted to no.5, a provisional situation was created for that as well. See, players need to know about each other’s game. Yes, they’re playing for a long time but it’s good to see these combinations in practice sessions,” Bangar told Star Sports.

Iyer will mark a return to international cricket after 7 months. KL Rahul, too, will return after picking up an injury during IPL. However, Rahul picked up a niggle on his way to recovery and it would be interesting to see if he gets fit in time for India’s Asia Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan on September 2.