ICC World Cup 2019: The Third Pacer Will be Key in These Conditions - Virat Kohli

Indian National Cricket Team will begin their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa on June 5 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Virat Kohli & Co had good preparations leading to the game and will be raring to take the field. Meanwhile, India is likely to play two specialised seamers while Hardik Pandya is likely to be the third seamer.

The wickets in England have produced a lot of runs and Southampton is run-peddler. The two matches played at the venue this year have produced 350+ scores and tomorrow’s game is likely to be no different. Besides, out of the six games played so far, three of them have produced 300+ scores which indicate that this tournament will be a high-scoring one. And exactly, this is where the bowlers will come to play as they will have to contain the easy flow of runs and restrict oppositions to small totals.

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Virat Kohli while addressing the press conference, said that with two new balls and flat wickets, the third seamer will play a crucial role. India will play Hardik Pandya as the third seamer who has had a good IPL with both bat and ball. They dynamic all-rounder will hope to carry his excellent form into his first-ever World Cup tournament. Kohli also admitted that with only two fast bowlers, the first ten overs will be tough and a third seamer will be key.

“With two new balls and good batting conditions, third pacer comes into picture only if the pitch has something extra to offer. Otherwise with two pacers too, the first ten overs are very tough,” Virat Kohli said at the press conference.

Furthermore, Virat Kohli also confirmed that Kedar Jadhav has regained fitness and will be available for selection against South Africa. This will give the management a headache of plenty as Ravindra Jadeja made a strong case for himself in the warm-up matches. The Men in Blues will look to get off to a winning start against a depleted Proteas side at Southampton.

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