Ever since the debacle of 2 T20 World Cups, it was understood that the main reason behind those losses was the slow batting at the top of the order. There were 3 batsmen Rohit, Rahul and Kohli who are similar types of players in the sense that they need time to unleash their strokes. By the time they are set, more than half the overs a bowled and hence, dynamic batting at the top of the order is of necessity. Both of them were unofficially dropped following the 2022 World T20. The selectors and most of the fans felt a need for urgency at the top of the order. Hardik Pandya was made the captain and a team full of dynamic batsmen was picked. Now, the wheel seems to have come a complete circle. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back in the T20 mix. It seems that T20 Rohit and Kohli have been given one more chance to win that elusive title.

It is all but given that both of them will feature in that World Cup squad that will travel to the West Indies in June. Otherwise, there is no point in bringing them back. Agreed, the regular captain, Pandya is injured and his replacement as T20 captain, Surya Yadav is also injured. From that perspective, the selectors may have run out of options to appoint another captain. With Pant not available and Jadeja not really desiring captaincy, they were left with no choice but to hand it over to Rohit.

Hoping for aggressive Rohit and Kohli

If Rohit is back as the captain, Kohli must also be back. It will take a few brave selectors to not select Kohli but only Rohit. Surely, the selectors saw something in Rohit following his aggressive batting during the just concluded ODI World Cup. It is within Rohit’s talent to again strike at well over 140 in T20 as well. Now that his captaincy tenure for his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians is finished, he will be free from the mind block, if he had any, that restricted his strokeplay. He may even reinvent himself during the next edition of the IPL and that can only be good news for the nation.

As for Kohli, his struggle against spin remains. He may not get out to spin but he is unable to play freely either. During the last IPL. his strike rate was just over 100 which is not at all good at the T20 World Cup. England, Australia and New Zealand have hitters who can score well in excess of 140. As I have written above, it takes not just one but multiple brave selectors to drop someone like Kohli and bring back Rohit alone.

The problem with these two coming back is that it may not leave any room for Rinku Singh, the standout player against Australia. He could turn games within a few deliveries. He is also left-handed, a rarity in Indian cricket.

Wrapping up T20 Rohit and Kohli

The first challenge in Afghanistan and later, the entire season of IPL awaits for both of them to scpre at a rate that they are not accustomed to.

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Series between unequal

Series between unequal

Over the last 20 years, since the Ganguly-led Indian team started to win outside of Asia, somehow, somewhere, the India vs Australia series became quite competitive and a lot of

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Good job by Indian selectors

Good job by Indian selectors

The Indian team for the two tests series against Sri Lanka has been announced. As expected, there are some changes which were inevitable. However, the good news, the one that

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The Indian cricket pitches

Whenever, a side from one of England, Australia, New Zealand comes to India, the one talking point is about the pitches. There will be lot of editorials on their newspapers stating that a minefield is awaiting their teams during their visit. Every pitch in any Test series will be doctored to suit the Indian spinners or to stump the visitors because of their lack of ability against spin. However, none of them thinks about the poor technique displayed by the visitors against spin. Not the perfect one but a better technique would have ensured that they prevail. Having said that, the Indian cricket pitches will probably have to change. Defeating India in India is one of the most toughest in the cricketing world. Defeating Australia and defeating South Africa are the other tough propositions. I have not included England or New Zealand because both the teams have lost rather a few games more than that is allowed. Over the last 23 years, India have lost less than 10 Tests at home with only 2 series losses. That is an incredible record to boast about. The sheer dominance at home is something no other team could achieve. Accusation against the team Despite that, the talk invariably turns to the pitches. There were lot of accusations on the Indian team that they will not be able to win so many games if the pitches weren’t so spin friendly. A few years ago, in 2015, against South Africa, both the teams, India and South Africa were unable to cross 300 once because the pitches turned square from ball one. The Nagpur pitch for the 3rd Test was rated poor. It left Kohli fuming. “Well, there have been three scores of under 50 runs in South Africa but I haven’t seen any sort of articles on that. Teams have been bundled out under 100 for about six times in South Africa,” he said. “The situation in our country is highlighted a bit too much and that’s a fact. Because the only thing we talk about is the pitch and when we were in South Africa, the only thing we talked about was how badly we played. We are criticised for our techniques but when visitors don’t play well, it’s always the wicket.” It is true what Kohli had said. There are lot of games in Australia and South Africa that have not exceeded 3 days. Especially, in South Africa, the pitches are overly favourable to the fast bowlers. Since South Africa can churn out them by the dozen, they have always prepared pitches that has incredible pace and bounce. They have always maximised the home advantage and particularly against the Asian nations. WTC Points system is another reason Likewise, India is also justified in preparing pitches that does not suit the opposing batsmen. Here I say the opponent’s batsmen is because even the Indians are not that good against spinners any longer. Just look at the number of games the Indians were tied down by spinners in white ball cricket that has prevented them from scoring huge runs or chase down one. The situation is not that better in Tests either. Nowadays, spinning pitches are prepared not because it is comfortable for India but because it is uncomfortable for the opponents. One other factor that warrants results oriented pitches is the WTC points system. It awards 12 points for a win and only 4 for a draw. It places great importance in playing attacking aggressive brand of cricket. WTC points is a significant motivator. Teams need wins to be in contention to play the final. Where does the chances for winning most of the games lie? It is at home where you know the conditions and you know how the pitches will behave. Hence, the need to prepare pitches where you give your team the maximum chance to win. “There is a huge premium on results,” Dravid said before the fourth Test. “You draw a game like Kanpur against New Zealand, where you take nine wickets in the second innings, you draw that game and that sets you back, in a home game. “Every team is getting results at home or are putting in really good performances at home, so there is a premium on results. You get four points for a draw and you get 12 for a win, so there is a premium on that, there’s no question about it.” It is time to return The downside of all this is that the averages and the performances of the batsmen have dropped drastically and the spinners are having inflated strike rates and averages. One will only have to compare the statistics of both Ashwin and Jadeja with their away record. It will clearly establish the fact that these two spinners, ofcourse they are good, are not as great as they are made out to be. Perhaps, the time has come to return to the more batting pitches that helped the Indian batsmen outscore their opponents. The spinners will have to really use their guile and intelligence to pick up wickets rather than just drop the ball and leave the rest to the pitches. There was a period, against England in 2017, where both the teams amassed runs and yet, India won handsomely 4-0. Ashwin & Jadeja still emerged as the highest wicket takers but they had to move out of their comfort zone. The Indian fast bowlers too had long bowling sessions. This was in stark contrast to how Bumrah asked to be left out of the squad in 2020 against England because he hardly had to bowl. Wrapping up the Indian cricket pitches The problem is not the turn but the dust that comes out of the pitch everytime there is an activity. Sri Lankan pitches have also turned but the soil does not come out. India have had similar pitches and it is time to return to that. 2 and 3 day games will kill the game. Let the batsmen be able to bat confidently. For inspiration, India will only have to think about the pitches against England in 2017.

Whenever, a side from one of England, Australia, New Zealand comes to India, the one talking point is about the pitches. There will be lot of editorials on their newspapers

Read More