In the crucial Super 8 match on Thursday, the Indian think tank will need to address key areas of concern.
Defending champions India have made heavy weather of their campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after succumbing to a huge defeat against South Africa in their first Super 8 match. They now face Zimbabwe in Chennai. India will have to win by a big margin to keep their hopes alive and then beat the in-form West Indies in Kolkata to progress to the semi-finals.
These are the areas the Indian think tank would be looking to address.
1 Selection
India will have to be spot on with the selection of playing XI. In the last match they dropped vice-captain Axar Patel for Washington Sundar which did not prove handy. In the batting they will have to take a call on whether to play Sanju Samson in place of Abhishek Sharma who is horribly out of form.
2 Sort out opening woes:
8 (vs USA), 25 (vs Namibia), 1 (vs Pakistan), 0 (vs Netherlands), 10 (vs South Africa). This is the string of India’s opening order partnerships in the T20 World Cup. And it has mostly to do with Abhishek Sharma’s abysmal run so far. Left-handed Sharma came into the T20 World Cup as a star performer but three ducks and a scratchy 14 against South Africa have opened up chinks in his batting that opponent teams are exploiting to the full. A poor start in putting pressure on the middle order.
Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma too is having an ordinary tournament and clearly looked like a batsman not clear of his role in the middle. Whether to play the anchor role or go for the jugular, like he tried against Marco Jansen against SA coming down the track and perished in the process. It is then left to skipper Suryakumar Yadav to either provide support to Ishan Kishan or rebuild the innings making others play around him.
Sanju Samson has been given just one match so far (22 off 8 against Namibia) and he is expected to be called back. It will be interesting to see what batting order India choses.
3 Tackling spinners, slower balls
Off spinners have done a lot of damage in the Indian line up full of left handers. Pakistan’s Salman Agha, Netherland’s Aryan Dutt, South African captain Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj have successfully exposed India’s frailties against spin. India’s top order has played flashy strokes, trying to force the pace and giving their wickets. Expect Zimbabwe captain and spinner Sikandar Raza to take advantage of the situation.
South Africa
Against South Africa, Indian batters also struggled against the slower balls bowled by pacers Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, giving their wickets while trying to force the pace. The slow surface of the Chennai wicket would demand patience and innovative shot making.
4 Varun Chakravarthy needs to fire
South Africa’s batters went after spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/47), which paid dividends. Varun has been India’s best bowler on show with 10 wickets so far and needs to find his rhythm against Zimbabwe. Playing on his home ground, Varun will be looking to fire and be among the wickets. With his quality and bag of tricks, any opponent would find it difficult if he gets a grip on the game. Jasprit Bumrah showed good form against South Africa, and if both get going, India would cross the first hurdle with ease.
–EOM
