Rajkot, January 27: Ahead of the third T20I against England in Rajkot, Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that veteran pacer Mohammed Shami is fit.
Shami was included in the Indian squad for the England series after being out of action more than an year. However, he has watched both the T20Is from the dugout, having not played both matches.
Speaking at the pre-match presser, Kotak said, "Shami is it. Yes. I am not the one who can answer. So, that is something the coach Gautam (Gambhir) and obviously Surya (captain Suryakumar Yadav) and they will take a call. But, fitness is not a problem depending on how they are planning to build his load."
Kotak said that all players have different plans while batting, stating, "See, every individual has their unique way of playing the game. Their strength, the areas which they prefer against different bowlers. So, for example, somebody likes to use the pace. Somebody likes to free their hands. There are a lot of different things they look at. So Abhishek is someone who is great with his hands, offside shots and probably all around the ground. Tilak is someone who will have a very clear plan about which bowlers, how he wants to take on, where he wants to use the pace."
"So it is not only two of them. Like that, I think up to number 8, even now the bowlers we talk and we make a plan. So even Arshdeep will think about what he is going to do if it comes to his turn, if he is playing the last three balls. So every player would have a different plan and they all have different areas and different ways to play. So I have to just see that as long as they are comfortable and then what I can aid where they get benefited. Maybe not very fast but one thing at a time, two thing at a time, we think and then we go ahead," he added.
Kotak said that Rajkot is known to be a batting track and the game should be a high-scoring one.
"England also comes with certain plans. They are also bowling in certain areas. So, batsmen will react to what they are bowling, and their plans and they change their plans as well. Every team does. We also do," he added.
Squads:
-India Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Dhruv Jurel, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana
-England Squad: Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed.
