Kolkata: In just over a day, two sides that have scored over 200 this week and hit the most sixes in this T20 World Cup will meet in a virtual knockout at Eden Gardens where clearing the boundaries has been relatively easy because of the smaller dimensions. In that backdrop, the win against Zimbabwe doesn’t look comprehensive enough with India conceding 11 sixes, seven wides and two no-balls, the spinners leaking 70 runs in eight overs while Shivam Dube gave away 46 in two. And Zimbabwe weren’t even bowled out.
Such is the nature of this format that as long as bowlers contain runs, their wicket count doesn’t matter much. Truth be told, India won Thursday’s game not because their bowlers contained Zimbabwe, but because the target was nearly impossible to chase, even for a top-tier team. The fact that the same bowling line-up allowed South Africa to bounce back from 20/3 to score 187 also can’t be lost on the think tank.
It didn’t escape Suryakumar Yadav’s attention either, the India captain promptly pulled up his bowlers despite the 72-run win margin. “We could have been more clinical with the ball but a win is a win,” he said at the post-match presentation. “We need to tighten screws ahead of the West Indies game. From the bowling point of view, we could have been smarter. When we are in such situations, we need to be courageous.”
The India captain’s concerns aren’t unwarranted. Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar — both of whom have played at Eden for KKR — might know the ground intimately, but the West Indies have more recent match experience, having played against Italy and Scotland here. Not to forget how clinical West Indies have been at six-hitting, especially against spinners.
But India will carry some confidence forward from Chennai, with Axar Patel returning to the team only now and Varun Chakravarthy recovering well from the mauling against South Africa.
Jasprit Bumrah has been an epitome of consistency but Arshdeep Singh also showed plenty of pluck on Thursday, sticking to his lines, making the ball seam, bowling knuckle balls and taking 3/24. And even he believes batters control the narrative in this format.
“As long as our batters are having fun batting on these wickets, we’re happy,” he said in an interaction after the Zimbabwe game. “We don’t mind being hit for runs. Our game plan over the last year or two has been to score big and then try to defend it. So as long as we keep getting those kinds of wickets where the batsmen can score runs freely, we are more than happy to do the dirty job. So the thing is to enjoy the batting, and then defend the score.”
Ahead of the West Indies game however, India might need to review this strategy. Because against a side packed with power hitters down to number 8, that sort of plan can boomerang any time.
West Indies showed a brief but powerful glimpse of their batting steel in the defeat to South Africa, turning around their innings from 83/7 to putting up 176 for 8. India can’t afford that at Eden Gardens, where even a mishit can go for a six.
Zimbabwe player Ryan Burl had touched upon this point before the Chepauk match, elaborating why six-hitting is easier in India.
“The main difference coming here to India is going to be the boundary sizes in comparison to Premadasa and Kandy and SAC, the three grounds there in Sri Lanka,” Burl had said. “And I think obviously you saw the game against West Indies where the ball does come on a lot better here in India. So a lot more boundaries are expected to be hit.”
Currently, West Indies are the best in the six-hitting business. Going into the Eden Gardens match, that fact is bound to keep India on their toes.
On top of that, India have a self-inflicted bowling identity crisis. Shivam Dube averages 13.28 runs per over, while Pandya averages 8.42. Ideally, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy should have been India’s go-to spin combination. But India sacrificed that in the Ahmedabad game by dropping Patel for Washington Sundar, only to go back to their original pair in Chennai.
The flipflop in strategy certainly didn’t help Patel who conceded 35 runs against Zimbabwe. On top of that, even Chakravarthy was carted for three sixes, which the West Indies must have taken note of. Safe to say, India’s bowling is far from being a finished product in this World Cup.
