Chennai: It was some high, stringing 17 consecutive white-ball match wins. And then Ahmedabad happened. One bad defeat shouldn’t make a team poor overnight. But the reality is this: If India don’t win against Zimbabwe here on Thursday, that too comprehensively, their T20 World Cup could be as good as over.
Dealing with this twist in the narrative isn’t easy, but India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak is keeping the faith in a relatively young team that was put together after the 2024 win.
“That anxiety, you’ll learn to deal with it from the start of your career,” said Kotak here on Wednesday. “And this is a big pressure game, when you’re representing a country and a World Cup in India. And a lot of expectation. But I honestly think they all are good enough to handle that pressure. If we want to win the World Cup, we have to handle that pressure. If we can’t, then it’s tough.
“And I don’t believe that there is anything this team cannot handle. So, I’m personally looking for that momentum. Once we start getting that again, if we do it from tomorrow, I think they’ll be picking up at the right time.”
Through the Asia Cup and the bilateral series in the last two years, almost nothing seemed to go wrong with India. Till it did, and how. Maybe it’s the law of averages which led to India suffering a collective failure in a match so important. But the mindset now is that if there was a bad game in the way, maybe it was the South Africa loss.
Kotak advocates a similar approach for Abhishek Sharma, whose lean patch has prevented India from going guns blazing in the Powerplay.
“See, all the bilaterals and all, batting was really clicking well,” he said. “I am not really looking at individuals, how many times somebody failed or how, because then we start putting pressure on the way they bat. But last game also, I think we should take it in the stride that it was the worst game we played in two years.
“So, honestly I feel we shouldn’t think about it too much and move ahead. Our openers have not clicked as well as we want. Ishan played a brilliant knock against Pakistan, but Abhishek had a little rough phase. His health was a little bad. And after that, he didn’t have that much momentum. But last game, again, he looked good.
“And overthinking about one individual, personally, I never liked. Because we are playing with eight batsmen, two allrounders and six batsmen. If we focus so much on one person, then that person also will be under pressure. Our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. And once he starts hitting the ball again, you will see the same Abhishek. Now, in this (T20) game, nobody can give guarantee that he will do it in the next match. But I think he is not far.”
Personal form manifests into team form, and there is no doubt India’s performance is hurting because of the lack of runs from some of their top-order batters. Which is also why they find themselves in a situation where every match is must-win.
“In the World Cup, that situation is for every team. It is not that it is a must-win for us only. But because our last game didn’t go so well, it is absolutely fine,” said Kotak. “If you want to go and win the World Cup, you expect to beat all the sides you play—whether it is Australia, Zimbabwe, West Indies, or whoever comes. So, I don’t think that (we have) that kind of a worry or panic or anything at all. The discussions, to be very honest, are more about tactics.”
