Published: Jan 17, 2024, 06:47 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 17, 2024, 06:47 AM (IST)
In the final faceoff against Afghanistan ,Prior to the T20 World Cup in the West Indies, India’s final international T20 encounter is scheduled for Wednesday. Afghanistan has yet to triumph over India. And in M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where sixes are a common occurrence, the likelihood of it happening doesn’t seem good. It merely gives India more motivation to try out their wealth of batting talent. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube have both been outstanding. Rinku Singh proves he is deserving of this rank. Tilak Varma and Shubman Gill have both performed as anticipated of them.
However, Virat Kohli’s intentions have been more encouraging. After India lost to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, Kohli took a self-imposed vacation from T20Is, which seems to have strengthened his determination to lead India to victory in an ICC event. He has prevented the story from taking an obvious turn. He’s not trying to hold his bullets down, he’s not settling in slowly, and he’s not content with limitations any longer.
The manner he attempted to outspin Afghanistan’s top spinner, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, was quite pleasing. When you also take into account that Rohit Sharma has fully committed to this high-risk, high-rewards batting strategy, these are unprecedented times. India can really turn this on if it sticks.
Parallel to this, given how frequently India has faltered during this stage in the past, Dube’s arrival as the middle-overs enforcer has also been a comfort. India may have found an all-format opener in Jaiswal who follows his gut regardless of the situation. As a result, in just two games, the hitting appears to have picked up speed.
As Jaiswal stated following the second Twenty20 International, keeping a high strike rate is crucial to this progress. “I was focused on getting my team off to a strong start and trying to punish the loose balls.” I was attempting to hit as hard as I could. I was attempting to maintain a high strike rate. My goal was to maintain a high strike rate while hitting.
All of this is very encouraging for the team that anticipates the return of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav when they are deemed fit. Furthermore, the No 1-7 batting finally appears more formidable, despite the fact that Washington Sundar and Axar Patel haven’t batted.
The way India continues to haemorrhage large runs raises a few possible red flags. Additionally, it is crucial for the bowlers to put up a few brownie points as a group before leaving for their individual IPL teams at a place like Chinnaswamy, which is known for its run-fests. Despite the fact that this is a dead rubber, Arshdeep Singh, India’s most economical fast bowler in this series, thinks there is still room for improvement.
Arshdeep stated during the Tuesday pre-game news conference that the team’s mindset is not based on the series scoreline or the outcomes of the previous games. The primary goal is to swiftly adjust and become accustomed to the ground. We might focus on enhancing and growing our match skills.
Faster bowlers may find Chinnaswamy especially challenging because of its short boundaries and quick outfield, but Arshdeep thinks in the end it works to their advantage. Here, we believe there is nothing to lose. Because they feel that they need to score more boundaries to stay in the game, bowlers put pressure on batsmen to hit more boundaries. More wickets are available to you.
Given that Avesh Khan has been travelling with the team since South Africa, the management might be persuaded to give him a game. Mukesh Kumar, who let up 21 runs in two overs during the second Twenty20 International, might then be benched. After the World Cup, Kuldeep Yadav, who is expected to be the favourite, can also gain from a match-up with Washington Sundar or Ravi Bishnoi. Although Jitesh Sharma has been a constant for a while, this is the last chance the management has to give him a go if they want to keep Sanju Samson informed.
