India need 'four pillars of strength' in T20Is in order to excel: Dean Jones

The Indian team lost the 1st T20I against Bangladesh and is now preparing for the 2nd T20I in order to bounce back stronger in the three-match series. The next contest is scheduled to take place in Rajkot on the 7th of November. But, ahead of the game, the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones has come up with a piece of important advice for the hosts.

In the absence of Virat Kohli, selectors had brought back Rohit Sharma as the stand-in captain against Tigers. Moreover, in the absence of their top-order batsman, they lost the series opener. Dean Jones feels that Team India has failed to dominate in the shortest format as they do in ODIs and Tests, and he also backed it up by pointing out at India’s No. 5 rank in the T20I ranking table.

Dean Jones comes up with the factors in which India needs to improve in T20Is

As per the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones, the Indian team is in need of four strong pillars to excel in T20Is. The hosts are in need of a top-class spinner, a fast bowler, who can support Jasprit Bumrah and three hard-hitting batsmen who can score boundaries and sixes. Also, he thinks that the series against Bangladesh will come up with all the answers to these questions for the “Men in Blue”.

“I think you need to have four pillars of strengths. The number one pillar in any T20 team is the death bowler. You’ve got (Jasprit) Bumrah. So, who is the other bowler who’s going to help bowl at the death? Will it be Deepak (Chahar) or Khaleel (Ahmed)?”

“The second pillar is the top three batsmen who can hit boundaries in the first six overs or bat with a strike rate of over 130. You’ve got Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. At number three, who’s your all-rounder? Of course, Hardik (Pandya), he’s been rested. This gives a golden opportunity to Shivam Dube to come in.”

“As the fourth pillar, you need a spinner that can spin it both ways. Is it going to be (Yuzvendra) Chahal or someone else? Now, this is where questions will be asked in the next two to three T20 series that are coming up.” Dean Jones told First Post.

Jones also recited about Test cricket and said that having a Day-Night game in the longer format is a great initiative and termed it as the future of the game of cricket. “I think the day-night Test is a great initiative. It is the future of cricket,” he added.

The 58-year-old is currently working as a cricket expert in ‘Select Dugout’ that is being telecast on Star Sports.

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