When defending champions India play a dangerous Zimbabwe in their second Super Eights encounter of the T20 World Cup in Chennai on Thursday, they will need all the fortitude they can conjure since they are struggling with top-order brittleness and are under pressure following a crushing defeat.
Given their net run rate (-3.80) following Sunday’s 76-run loss to South Africa, India’s survival in the ICC showpiece depends on winning this match by a significant margin.
But in order to do that, India must resolve the problems with the opening and No. 3 berths. Prior to this World Cup, the defending champions defeated South Africa and New Zealand at home thanks to the outstanding performances of Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order.
However, following a stomach ailment, Abhishek’s batting seemed to have lost its light. The left-hander’s firepower has been diminished by a mix of boring pitches and off-spinners that took the ball away from his hitting arc. With 15 runs from four games at an average of 3.75 and a strike rate of 75, he is undoubtedly a better batter than his present stats.
The true question, though, is whether he can put aside the temptation to play his natural game and score a few runs against his reputation. Sometimes it’s necessary to appear unattractive in order to succeed.
Tuesday night at Pallekele, England captain Harry Brook, a batter in Abhishek’s style, scored a match-winning hundred thanks to the adjustments he made to the pitches. Observing him could serve as a model for the Indian opener.
Brook was never very good at spin, but at Pallekele, the Yorkshireman destroyed Pakistan’s spin fleet by expertly balancing attack and defense. Though in a different way, Tilak Varma also requires a course adjustment.
It might be argued that Kishan, who is still impressing with a strike-rate of 193 among the top-order ruins surrounding him, has needed extra support from Tilak due to Abhishek’s lean patch. Even so, according to the current T20 pattern, a strike-rate of 118 is insufficient for a batter participating in the powerplays. In T20ls, he typically hits about 141.
Despite having 180 runs, Suryakumar Yadav’s strike-rate of 127 is significantly lower than his T201 career strike-rate of 161. Kishan is now responsible for carrying out all of the hard lifting alone. India would not have been able to attain par totals in at least a few games if it weren’t for the impetus provided by Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya.
In order to limit their chances of scoring, the opposition teams have deftly fielded off-spinners during the powerplay against the three left-handed hitters, Kishan, Abhishek, and Tilak. A quick fix could be to include right-hander Sanju Samson in the top three, but the Kerala batter isn’t playing well right now.
Therefore, it is questionable what impact it would have to add another struggling batter to an already challenging environment. To break the trend of left-handers at the top, the team think tank may consider moving Tilak down to No. 4 and promoting Suryakumar to No. 3.
However, the fact that Chepauk may provide them with the greatest surface to date in this competition gives the management hope. Although it was played at 11 a.m., the identical track was used for the Afghanistan-New Zealand match. On that occasion, the Afghans set a target of more than 180, which New Zealand easily chased down.
The fact that Zimbabwe’s spin attack, which consists of Graeme Cremer, Sikandar Raza, and Ryan Burl, is not as strong as some of the opponents the co-hosts have faced so far in the tournament could work in India’s favor. However, on their day, their tall quicks, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, and Blessing Muzarabani, can pose some challenging problems to the batters.
Despite a mistake that saw the Proteas reach 187/7 after battling at 20/3, India has little to be concerned about when it comes to bowling. With the help of Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, who is at the top of his game, should be able to outperform a rather inexperienced Zimbabwe batting unit.
Vice-captain and left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who was benched against South Africa, is set to return for this game, adding fangs to India’s bowling attack.
Teams (from):
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (c), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Ben Curran
