Dean Jones Says India Need Four Pillars Of Strength To Excel In T20Is

Indian players entered in their own Bermuda triangle only to choke in the first T20I against Bangladesh. The hosts have already begun their ideal preparations for the 2nd T20I on November 7 (Rajkot) to redeem the brain freeze of the first match result in a bid to stay alive in the series. Meanwhile, the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones has some interesting words in store for the Indians.

Dean Jones reckons that Team India has lacked the killer instinct to bruise away the opposition teams in the shortest format just like they do in ODIs and Tests. Under the tutelage of Virat Kohli, India didn’t really raise the bar and their current No.5 position in the T20I rankings serves as a testimony to the fact.

India should have 4 strong pillars: Dean Jones

The former Australian cricketer echoed that Indian team is in dire need of four strong pillars in a bid to shine in T20Is. He is pretty much aware of the fact that Bumrah is a good death bowler and other than that, he had advised the Indian team to have a sleeker alternative in mind in the death overs.

“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)?” Dean Jones said.

With the presence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the top, it should do the job well for India as they can start the match well by scoring runs at a healthy strike rate. “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.”

Though there is no assurance from India that they would pick certain players for a particular position, Dean Jones reckons that the team will get solutions to all the questions after the conclusion of the ongoing T20I series against Bangladesh.

“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 was quoted as saying by First Post.