Poll: Ashwin or Chahar? And does Hardik fit in if he can't bowl?
Have your say - what should India's XI for the game against Pakistan be?
India have any number of options to fill their playing XI, each as good as the others • AFP/Getty Images
These are more situational spots based on overs left in the innings and match-ups rather than fixed batting numbers. If Hardik bowls - Rohit said before the second warm-up match that he would - it will make the choice easier. The other options are Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Kishan.
Chennai Super Kings, the IPL 2021 champions, used only their spin-bowling allrounders in Dubai, but India will surely employ more spin beyond just Jadeja. Conditions will determine if they pick one or two specialist spinners, and they have got three choices. Chahar is a quick wristspinner but without a great IPL behind him, Chakravarthy is a mystery spinner in great form but doesn't have a lot of experience, and Ashwin has a lot of experience but he is a fingerspinner who was not finishing his quota against right-hand-dominated batting line-ups in the IPL.
The number of spinners and the number of fast bowlers are connected questions. Bumrah is a certainty but India will need at least one - and likely two - more quicks. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the experience of bowling in the powerplay and at the death. Mohammed Shami can extract any help there might be for fast bowlers. Shardul Thakur has impressed with his canniness and was picked belatedly after the selectors realised they were one fast bowler short.