T20 World Cup 2021, IND vs NZ: Should India have Thakur instead of Bhuvneshwar? Here's what Kohli's coach says

India will be taking on New Zealand in its ICC T20 World Cup 2021 clash on Sunday. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli's coach Rajkumar Sharma suggested that India have Shardul Thakur instead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Former champion India would be under pressure as it heads into Sunday's 2021 ICC T20 World Cup encounter against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium. India has never beaten the side in the tournament, while the pressure of gaining the first win after losing to arch-rival and former champion Pakistan would be immense.

However, the Kiwis would be desperate, too, having lost their opening clash as well. On the other hand, India's bowling combination would be crucial to watch out. Notably, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not been in the best of his forms. In the same light, skipper Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has analysed that Kohli should move with pacer Shardul Thakur.

Speaking to ANI, Rajkumar pointed out that India's bowling looked weak against Pakistan, while Bhuvneshwar's unstable form should make way for Shardul. Also, veteran Ravichandran Ashwin's experience could come in handy in the spin department instead of Varun Chakravarthy, despite the latter being decent with his form and consistency.

Analysing further, he said that India's bowling should possess a combination of leg cutters, slower ones and slower bouncers. He also backed pacer Jasprit Bumrah and seamer Mohammed Shami to scalp the opening wickets within the Powerplay to pile instant pressure on the Kiwis.

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He also spoke on Kohli's innings against Pakistan, which he termed fantastic innings, besides backing him to continue with this noble form. He also felt that openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma should look to get off to a flying start, which would allow Kohli to come at number three and play much more freely.