India to consider Shami and Surya for balance in Pandya's absence

The Indian playing XI has been affected by Hardik Pandya's absence, and they may be considering playing Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav against New Zealand on Sunday to help restore some of that balance. At least it is what was inferred from Rahul Dravid's hints.

Pandya injured his left ankle and is now being treated at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore by the BCCI medical staff.

"...clearly, he's (Hardik) a key player for us, so we'll have to work around that and see what the best lineup we can put together is. We'll have to experiment to find what suits these circumstances and these wickets the best. However, we may not have the same balance that we had in the first four games, according to Dravid's pregame remarks.

When Shami referred to Shardul as the fourth seamer in the lineup, with Pandya ahead of him in the pecking order, it became obvious that Shami might enter the picture.

Having someone like Shami sitting there and including him in this game is obviously a terrific choice for the three fishermen. The head coach mentioned Ashwin, who has occasionally been sitting out but also has enormous talent. "Numerous combinations and permutations. I don't want to disclose too much. We actually know very well who will play tomorrow.

When Dravid added, "It may be a middle-over job — so we will just have to see which one we want to... we are quite clear about the kind of roles that people can play, it was evident that Surya was being considered at No. 6 to take Pandya's place.

So, Surya is definitely someone who can do that if you're looking for someone who might act as a bit of an enforcer for us in the lower middle order.

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