Like it or not, Virat Kohli isn’t going to reveal his plans on Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder hasn’t bowled since the IPL and there is no guarantee he will against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.

The India captain though acknowledged the need to have a sixth bowling option in specific situations and reckoned Pandya could bowl if his fitness permitted him to. While keeping himself ready for an over or two, Kohli stressed on the need to keep Shardul Thakur in their plans.

More than the batting, it is the bowling which let India down against Pakistan. It wouldn’t be surprising if Shardul replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Kohli’s reliance on Pandya “the finisher” remains intact. If Pandya is fit enough to bowl, it will open more options for India. Jasprit Bumrah could mostly be reserved for the death overs while Varun Chakravarthy or Ravichandran Ashwin, whoever is favoured, can be used in the Powerplay.

“It’s very important to have a sixth bowling option... whether through me or Hardik. He should have to be fit to be able to bowl one or two overs,” Kohli said on Saturday.

“Game situation dictates when to use your sixth bowling option. In our last match, if Pakistan batted first, I could also have bowled one or two overs. But in the second innings when we needed wickets, we just had to bowl our main bowlers. It’s not that a team with six-seven bowling options doesn’t lose,” Kohli reasoned.

Sources told The Telegraph that Shardul is a certainty to make the XI against New Zealand. If Pandya’s fitness permits him to bowl, the team management will not opt for any other change in the XI. The sixth bowler’s slot will rotate between Pandya and Kohli.

“He (Shardul)’s definitely a guy who’s in our plans, constantly making a case for himself. And he’s definitely someone that can bring a lot of value to the team,” Kohli said. “Now what role he plays or where he fits in, that’s something that I cannot obviously talk about right now. But Shardul is someone who has great potential and he will add great value to the team.”

A lot will depend on how the opening overs pan out in what is being seen as a virtual knockout clash. If Trent Boult can swing it like Shaheen Shah Afridi, it could spell danger unless someone stands up to the challenge.

The overwhelming trend of ‘bowl first, win match’ has already put teams under mental stress. Teams batting second have won 14 of the 18 T20s played in Dubai this year. “It (the toss) will continue to be a big factor. That’s the nature of this tournament. You can look at this situation in two ways. Either you can bank too much on the toss or you can challenge yourself as a team to say, ‘okay, even if we lose the toss, we’re good enough to bowl or bat in any conditions’,” Kohli remarked.

Early loss of wickets led to India and New Zealand both losing to Pakistan though none of the batsmen could be held guilty of careless abandon. For India to make early inroads, Bumrah’s role will be vital. He has 10 wickets in nine matches against New Zealand and has proved to be Martin Guptill’s nemesis.

“Look, Jasprit is obviously the best all-format bowler in the world. That’s why there’s precisely so much expectations from him, not just from people on the outside, but himself as well. He takes a lot of pride in that,” Kohli said.

India’s poor record against New Zealand in ICC tournaments could be a dampener given that they haven’t won against them since the 2003 World Cup. In contrast, India have won all eight T20Is against New Zealand post the 2016 T20 World Cup. Such statistics though count for little in high-voltage clashes.