Kolkata: After having won the match against Australia in style, India would take on Afghanistan at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. But that's not the point. The point is coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma would have a peculiar problem of picking the playing XI hereon.
Having played three spinners at Chepauk on Sunday, all three have fared well to restrict the Australian below 200. In fact, the 22-yard on offer at the MA Chidambaram Stadium was a difficult wicket to bat on for even the greats. The strike rates of Virat Kohli (73.28) and KL Rahul (84.35) are a testimony to that.
It could be a topic of discussion for another day on Australia's ploy for the ICC World Cup 2023. Australia travelling to the nook and corner of the subcontinent with only one specialist spinner (Adam Zampa) in the tour party is bound to put them in a quandary in the near future.
Back to the Men in Blue, it will just be a sweet pain for them to decide on the final XI in the upcoming matches. With all spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin (1-34 in 10 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2-42) and spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (3-28) putting up their best shows, the team think tank would face roadblocks while selecting the XI for the matches ahead which is expected to be played on either sporting wickets or on belters.
Even at Kotla, It won't matter much if India goes in with all three of them keeping the side unchanged. It would mostly depend on the batters in Delhi to put up a huge total like South Africa did against Sri Lanka the other day. The decision would be a tough one considering the situation in Ahmedabad against Pakistan and thereafter.