Former Indian women’s team captain Anjum Chopra did not include star batter KL Rahul in the Rohit Sharma-led side’s playing XI for the Asia Cup game against Pakistan on Sunday. Anjum feels that the Indian team should take the field against Pakistan with six bowlers, which will add more depth to the bowling, as well as batting department. The 45-year-old also suggested that wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant should open the batting, alongside captain Rohit Sharma.

“I feel India should go in with six specialist bowlers. That way, the bowling line-up can be covered well, with seam, off-spin and leg-spin. It also extends the batting line-up. Who will open the batting, who will bat in the middle, that is something which depends on the coach,” Anjum said in a video uploaded on her YouTube channel.

Anjum also spoke about the absence of pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, who are both out of the tournament due to injuries. She said that the team management has got plenty of options to get the job done.

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“India have so many options. The selectors can pick from a bench strength of 25 players, probably even more. Anybody can play from them. It doesn’t matter if players like Bumrah and Harshal are unavailable. India look like a very strong team in both batting and bowling departments. They are a very good all-round team,” she added

Anjum Chopra’s probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Hooda/ Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar