Rahul Dravid to take call on India’s playing XI as per Adelaide conditions

Rahul Dravid, head coach of the Indian men’s team, acknowledged that he will think about altering his playing combination for the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final match against England. On the thrilling final day of the Super 12 stage on Sunday, the Men in Blue secured their spot in the top four of the competition. Their convincing 71-run victory over Zimbabwe ensured that they finished on top of their group and advanced to a semi-final matchup with England.

India and England will lock horns at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, and Dravid said he will select a playing XI for that game that he thinks will work best given the circumstances. Yuzvendra Chahal, a seasoned leggie, might make his tournament debut as a result because the Adelaide Oval ground often favors slower bowlers.

Dinesh Karthik, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter, might also be called up to replace Rishabh Pant as Dravid said he won’t decide on his starting lineup until he has seen the Adelaide ground.

“I think we have a completely open mind about everyone in our 15. We believe anybody who comes into the 15 will not potentially make us weaker, the kind of squad we’ve picked. Anybody that we need to pick will actually not make us a weaker squad. Again, we’ll have to go there and see,” Dravid was quoted as saying by the ICC.

If it’s slow we’ll play according to those situations: Dravid

Dravid said that selecting the lineup for the semi-final game will be based completely on the pitch conditions at the given point in time. India played one game at the Adelaide Oval during their Super-12 campaign, which was against Bangladesh, and won the contest by just five runs after struggling initially. Speaking of which, Dravid added:

“I watched some of the games (in Adelaide) today and I know the tracks were slow and they gripped and they turned a bit. We might be playing on a completely new strip in Adelaide, and the strip we played with against Bangladesh, to be honest, did not spin. It was, again, a different kind of wicket, and it was played at Adelaide, as well. Of course, if it’s slow we’ll play according to those situations. If we think it might play differently, then we’ll have to put up a squad to match that.”