Captain Suryakumar Yadav made the best use of the resources in both areas as India defeated a determined Oman by 21 runs in Abu Dhabi to complete their Asia Cup league stage duties with a hat-trick of wins.
India will face Pakistan again in the Super 4s in Dubai on Sunday, and ahead of that clash, skipper Suryakumar Yadav wisely gave all 10 of his teammates time in the middle, choosing to bat at No. 11 himself.
India gave Oman, who were playing the T20 World Champions for the first time, a challenging target of 189.
Oman was limited to 167 for 4 in 20 overs by the Indian bowling attack, which didn’t appear particularly strong without Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah.
Sanju Samson (56) assisted himself to a half-century in the batting department, while opener Abhishek Sharma (38 off 15 balls) and Axar Patel (26 off 13 balls) adhered strictly to the team’s scoring pattern by hitting at a strike-rate of 200 or above. Tilak Varma, who batted at an unfamiliar No. 7 position, hit 29 off 18 balls.
However, vice-captain Shubman Gill (5 off 8 balls) was a little scratchy during his brief stay, while Hardik Pandya (1), who needed some batting time, was regrettably run-out by his former Baroda club cricket teammate Jiten Ramanandi.
Knowing that 189 would always be a difficult order for Oman, Surya had the luxury of deploying up to eight bowling options to keep everyone match-ready.
Despite having both participated in North Zone’s lone Duleep Trophy match this season, Harshit Rana (1/25 in 3 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (1/37) appeared to be severely lacking in playing time.
As usual, Kuldeep Yadav (1/23 in 3 overs) stood out from the others. Arshdeep, who is not expected to play against Pakistan, had the opportunity to become the first Indian player to surpass the 100-wicket mark.
Despite their valiant efforts, Oman’s captain Jatinder Singh (32 of 33 balls), fellow opener Aamir Kaleem (64 off 46 balls), and Hammad Mirza (51 off 34 balls) were unable to secure a historic victory.
However, when viewed in a broader context, it helped Surya anticipate what his resources will be like at the end of the competition.
Although there is no guarantee that he would bat at number three against Pakistan, Samson was the greatest gainer, helping himself to a few runs.
Samson was given the opportunity to bat in the top three since the one drop spot required a right-hander due to vice-captain Gill’s cheap dismissal.
Three fours and three sixes off 45 balls would undoubtedly give him confidence ahead of the Super Fours, even though it wasn’t the smoothest of his innings on a somewhat slow track.
His maiden maximum off left-arm seamer Shah Faisal, a pick-up shot over widish long-on, was the most notable of all his big smashes; nonetheless, he struggled to get going due to a lack of match time.
In order to give their underutilized middle-order enough time before Sunday’s match against Pakistan, it was very clear that India would want to bat first and employ all 20 overs before the Super 4s begin.
The batting order was appropriately shuffled to give Samson his preferred spot, elevating all-rounders Axar and Pandya above batting all-rounder Shivam Dube (5) or specialist left-hander Tilak.
