India vs Zimbabwe, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Last chance to experiment with Akshar Patel, Stuart Binny

India will face Zimbabwe in their final match of the league stages of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Match 39 of the tournament at Auckland. It will be the last chance for India to experiment ahead of the quarter-final. Shiamak Unwalla feels it would be the last chance for India to try Akshar Patel and Stuart Binny.

India have done remarkably well so far in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, having crushed every opponent they have met so far. Only West Indies managed to give India a scare, but even there the bowlers performed admirably. As such, India have had to make just one change in five games — and even that was forced. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got a game ahead of Mohammed Shami, but the moment Shami was fully fit India went back to their same line-up. Live Scorecard: India vs Zimbabwe, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pool B Match No. 39

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There are two ways to look at this strategy. The fact that the same set of players has been winning games for India suggests that this could well be India’s World Cup-winning combination. The flip side to that is that if there is an injury at a crucial time, the replacement will have had no match practice whatsoever for about a month. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Keeping that in mind, India could look to give either Stuart Binny or Akshar Patel — or both — a chance in the match against Zimbabwe. Binny could replace Mohit Sharma, while Akshar could come in ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin given that MS Dhoni might want to test Ravindra Jadeja some more. Mohit has done an excellent job of containing batsmen so far, and Binny will perform a similar role if selected. Akshar is an almost like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, and if Jadeja remains lacklustre Dhoni would be tempted to go for the young all-rounder. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Pool-wise Team Standings

In any case, the game against Zimbabwe will be India’s last chance to experiment. If India reach the final and have to make a last-minute change, having a player with some amount of match-practice will undoubtedly be more reassuring than picking someone who has warmed the bench for weeks. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)