A target that must have resulted in a comfortable chase, proved to be too great for the Indian team. It required the brilliance of Hardik Pandya to get over the line. What must have been a walk in the park chase, nearly ended up being completely chuffed up. Yes we won the game but requestions remain.
First the positives
The bowlers were absolutely brilliant with Kumar leading from the front. Kumar was at his best right from the beginning. He did not let the likes of Rizwan and Babar to get away off to a good start. He cramped both of them for room. The pressure played a part in Babar’s heave which resulted in his wicket. That wicket literally set Pakistan back by a few overs. He came back towards the end and nipped two quick wickets which put paid to any hopes Pakistan might have had of posting a strong total.
Arshdeep Singh was another bowler who impressed with his control. He went for some runs towards the end but that was understandable. Playing in his first game in a high voltage game against the arch-rival is never easy for someone who is inexperienced. That is overcame such anxieties and came out on top bodes well for his future. Once Bumrah and Harshal returns, Arshdeep will go back to the ranks but till then, if he keeps up with the performance, it will be hard to relegate him to the sideline.
Hardik Pandya’s brilliant allround performance
I have often been a critique of Hardik Pandya of seemingly his loss of enthusiasm to play for the country. At the sametime, I have also said that if he gets his act together, he can a very good cricketer. He has already lost lot of time of his prime and he can ill-afford to do that again if he wants history to remember him. In this game atleast he proved his worth. If not for his extraordinary stroke making towards the end, things would have been much tough for India.
The highlight of Pandya’s performance was not his batting but his bowling. There was constant talk to whether he will be able to complete his quota of 4 overs because of his fitness but to everyone’s amazement, he not only completed his quota but picked up 3 vital wickets. All of his wickets were of top and middle order. His bowling ensured that Pakistan were never within any striking distance of a tall score.
Onto the negatives
There were quite a few and all of them are worrying. Not just for this tournament but also the T20 World Cup in a couple of months.
First is the selection of Rahul as the opening partner for Rohit. I have written this often and I will say this again. Rahul is not a natural opener. Whenever he is asked to open, he is lost for direction. He is neither able to bat aggressively nor is able to rotate strike. As a result, he hogs the strike and by the time he is settled, the game would have progressed a long way. Moreover, Rahul is coming off an injury and is severely short of game fitness. His short stint in Zimbabwe wasn’t anything to be pleased about. If at all he must be included, it must be as a middle order batsman rather than as an opener.
The top three conundrum
The top three of Rohit, Rahul and Kohli are similar type of batsmen and none of them are capable of striking at more than 175. In the powerplay, that is so vital. Can India afford such a top 3 in the remaining games? I do not think so. The one option is to replace Rahul with Pant or Deepak Hooda at the top.
Pant is not as flamboyant a batsman as he is a Test cricketer. A cut through point which will give him 4 in Test will result in 1 in T20 and he feels severely curtailed. In his impatience to score quickly, tries one too many shots and gets out. That is the reason for a low strike rate and average for a batsman of Pant’s ability. Perhaps, opening the innings might just unleash the inner Pant. With powerplay restriction, he will get the full value for his shots.
Deepak Hooda is another who is in good form at the moment. He is coming off of a good hundred albeit against Ireland. Including him will give Rohit one more bowling option. He may even decide to drop one of the bowler.
I tend to favour Pant because he is a left handed batsman and alongwith Rohit at the top, will prove to be an ideal foil.
The form of Rohit and Kohli
It is a worry. Make no mistake about that though Kohli ended up as the joint top-scorer for India. More is expected of those experienced batsmen. They batted far too many deliveries and got out at the most inopportune moment in quick succession. It developed enormous amount of pressure on the middle order which required the brilliance of a Pandya innings to overcome.
Rohit struggled for timing and Kohli tried way too hard. With 2 more games including the finals expected against Pakistan, these two batsmen must be in good form. More so Rohit because much depends on the start he gives.
Wrapping up yes we won the game but questions remain
The current generation of Indian batsmen have completely forgotten the art of playing spin. It is so unfortunate. None of the Indian batsmen play Ranji Trophy and as a result, they do not that many spinners. It clearly shows at the highest level. Moreso, in T20 where it just isn’t advisable to block the spinners. Spinners must be scored against and there are no two ways around it. Here however, both Rohit and Kohli remained strokeless. This is a serious concern because Afghanistan have better spinners than any team in his competition.
Every team now stops India from scoring with their spinners. Even the likes of Santner have prevailed against us. It is time the Indian board make it mandatory for every Indian cricketer to play atleast 3-4 Ranji games every year. This will rekindle their ability to play spin better.
Though the performance of the bowlers was brilliant, having restricted Pakistan to 147, the final overs were a big let down. Pakistan must have been bowled out for less than 130 having had them 9 down for 128 but the last wicket was allowed to flourish and they added 21 runs in 8 deliveries. This is something the team cannot afford. Avesh Khan and Chahal must have had more impact. This will be a spin friendly tournament and India’s ability to counter them with a strategy will help.