|| India Correspondent ||
After having won the four-match Test series convincingly, Team India will play against England in a five-match T20I series. And, India captain Virat Kohli expects that his team will play more freely in the T20I series as the addition of fresh blood has given much-needed "x-factor and depth" to the batting department, which used to lack in the past.
Notably, three new faces have been added - Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia for the England series after their amazing campaign in the IPL 2020. Even, in-form Rishabh Pant too has made a return.
With the IPL 2021 is yet to take place soon, Virat Kohli feels a few new faces may come into the squad before the T20 World Cup which is slated to be played at home in October but he finds the current side full of balance and plenty of options too.
"We have have played with a certain kind of pattern in the past. We did not have a big tournament to work towards in the past. If you look the squad, the additions we have made we have tried to address a few things we needed in specific," Kohli said on the eve of the 1st game while referring to the likes of Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan.
"Guys who can be ‘x factors’ with the bat and do things which are the need of the hour in T20 cricket. These guys have done so on a regular basis in the IPL so we have tried to cover all those basis. Now it will be interesting to see how they go about in these five games," he further added.
"These are the only five games we have as a team before the World Cup and we want to see how these guys fare in the middle. I feel the squad right now we have barring Jaddu, who will come back whenever fit, is the most balanced in terms of the options available to take the field as and when required," Kohli concluded.