Time India get their act in T20s together
MELBOURNE: A fair bit of retrospection and a lot of course correction is the need of the hour after India yet again failed to cross the semi-final barrier of the T20 World Cup. For the better part of the last year, India gave the impression that they were looking to play fearless cricket. It showed as well in their powerplay run rate of 8.67, the best among all teams during the period between the two World Cups.
But all that planning and talk went up in air the moment India landed in Australia. In conditions that aided seam, swing and pace, India decided to play with more caution. Batting coach Vikram Rathour even said these pitches were not going to produce 200 runs just because there weren’t enough high scores till then.
The only reason India managed to post above-180 scores was because of their hitting in the slog overs. Powerplays were not viewed as a suitable time to go on attack. Instead, India relied on one of the top three to hold anchor and eyed the last 8-10 overs.
It was definitely how the tournament was panning out for most teams but England showed in the semi-final how sticking to their strengths can still work out.
England believe in unabashed batting irrespective of conditions. And they did exactly that when the occasion called for. This humbling may be the right trigger for a long-due overhaul of the India team while they try to improve on the biggest takeaways from this tournament.
Give Pandya the captaincy
It’s fairly apparent now that Hardik Pandya brings a much more positive vibe to the team, be it in batting or bowling. But the more crucial point is how he steered Gujarat Titans from a low-key start to winning the IPL this season. Rohit Sharma, though an astute leader, is 35. Pandya is 29. He has ideas, he wants to take responsibility, there is a latent desire to bat higher in the order (something he has already done, with a fair degree of success, at Gujarat Titans), he can take wickets and he is also a proven finisher. Since he has been already chosen to lead the T20 team in New Zealand, this could be the right time to make this white-ball setup a long-term project for
him.
Find other Sky-like players to add firepower However they might try to portray it, the failure of Rohit Sharma to get going in this World Cup has meant India have three similar batters with less-than-desirable strike rates at the top. It’s time to change that. Dig deep, look at the IPL squads. Give Sanju Samson — who finished this IPL with a strike rate of 146 — a long rope as opener with Rishabh Pant as his partner. Deepak Hooda needs more chances. Try Prithvi Shaw as well.
Leading this change should be Suryakumar Yadav, the best batter of the tournament till Alex Hales and Jos Buttler changed that notion a bit on Thursday.