23

Feb

Niggles Heading Into Super Eights

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India head into the business end of the T20 World Cup expectedly undefeated given we were in an easy group with even Pakistan, the lone Test playing nation in our group, being no rival as captain Suryakumar Yadav has famously said. The latter is not strictly true if we recall that in the previous World Cup in USA, India barely scraped through with just 120 runs on the board, and in the World Cup before on Australia in 2022, we made it though a stunning knock by Virat Kohli while being on the ropes till late in our chase.

The fact remains that in T20 cricket where the opportunity to bounce back is far less, on a given day, any team can shock a biggie!!! There are numerous examples of such shock wins and we saw some close encounters in the current World Cup too – Nepal against England, Netherlands against Pakistan, Afghanistan against South Arica which were excruciatingly close.

And Zimbabwe did shock the biggies like Australia and Sri Lanka to sail through to the Super eights.

While India remained undefeated, the sailing was not as smooth.

USA had us on the ropes before captain Yadav produced a gem reminiscent of Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe in 1983 one day World Cup.

But for Ishan Kishan’s stunning 77, we did struggle against Pakistan before their batting just crumbled.

Shivam Dube’s pyrotechnics lifted India to a winning total against Netherlands who did manage a respectable score in chase.

It was only against Namibia that India cantered to a win.

While India still look a very strong outfit, the first round has produced some niggles which need to be addressed to sail though the Super eights.

 

India enter the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup unbeaten, though their journey has been less convincing than it appears. Despite being in an easy group, India faced tough moments—scraping past USA and Pakistan and relying on key knocks from Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube. Only against Namibia was the win comfortable. The unpredictability of T20 cricket, highlighted by several close upsets in the tournament, underlines the challenges ahead.
Front Foot Forward
By Anil Jauhri
Concerns include Abhishek Sharma’s poor form at the top, the lack of a reliable backup opener, and whether to include a third spinner like Kuldeep Yadav. Dropping Arshdeep Singh or Rinku Singh presents selection dilemmas. Additionally, India’s batters have not clicked collectively. To progress further, the team must address these niggles and deliver a more complete performance against stronger opposition.

 

The foremost is the dismal run of Abhishek Sharma – with all the hype about him, three successive ducks is shocking. With Sanju Samson not being in great form either, the lack of a back up opener like Jaiswal would be felt. However, one expects that the team would persist with Abhishek to begin with and if returns to form, India would be handsomely served at the top with Ishan being in sublime form.

The second issue is about playing a third spinner – Kuldeep Yadav. The value of his mystery spin is undeniable and in Indian and more so in Sri Lankan conditions, playing 3 spinners is a viable, even desirable, option. He has an excellent record against South Africa in T20s even taking a fifer in 2023 who are our first opponents in the Super eights..

One of the options India has used is to replace Arshdeep Singh to accommodate him which, given Arshdeep was the highest wicket taker in 2024 T20 World Cup, and in any T20 World Cup to date, is unfair to him and maybe not in India’s interest. His wicket taking ability and value in death overs helps India’s cause and may be a better bet when we face the tougher opposition rather than the associates as in the first round.

So what are the other options?

It might have been an option before this World Cup but its no longer an option to drop Shivam Dube to accommodate him.

The only possibility left is to drop Rinku Singh and go in with 7 instead of 8 batters.

Can India risk that? Ideally it should be able to do that. 

Ideally, any balanced side used to have 5 batters, one keeper-batter and five bowlers. If any of the bowler happened to be all rounder, it was a bonus. India has three of them – Hardik, Shivam and Axar. Should this not suffice. One would think it should.

But given the current management’s fancy for all rounders, one has a sneaking suspicion that Rinku would stay and the choice would be between Arshdeep and Kuldeep.

The third issue is that all the batters have not fired together – we have been helped on our way by a single or at the most two batters in each match. The need is that they fire collectively especially in the Super eighths against more fancied opposition

Whatever be the final choice of team management, let us wish the team the best in the Super eights! (A cricket buff from his student days, Anil Jauhri is   ex-CEO, National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies and an international authority on standardization.)

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