INDO-PAK TIE ON STICKY WICKET
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MIRPUR: India’s comprehensive win in the Asia Cup has been termed special by skipper MS Dhoni. The manner in which the win was achieved does go a long way in establishing them as one of the favourites for the World Twenty20 title.
They won all the five matches that they played in the tournament. Most were comprehensive and impressive as they came on wickets that offered more help to the pacers and little to the spinners, which has been India’s strength.
Dhoni relied on his pacers heavily through the two-week tournament and used young pace options Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya smartly.
As usual, spinner R Ashwin came into play, but the conditions did not quite help him produce the individual brilliance we are accustomed to. Dhoni too did not use him in attacking plays. The one time Ashwin was used to open the bowling attack was in the final, the only time a dry wicket was on offer.
Otherwise, it was the pacers that were relied upon to get the breakthroughs. I feel it will be difficult (for Shami) to replace Bumrah, because he has the strength of delivering yorkers at will. And with the new ball also he has contributed well. And to replace Ashish (Nehra), it’ll be tough as he has bowled well.
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Against Sri Lanka, at home in early February, Dhoni had used Ashwin and the other spinners in attacking plays with the conditions suited for such a tactic.
In the Asia Cup, prior to Sunday, Ashwin was used more to keep runs down than to effect wickets. Other than Ashwin, India has kept faith in Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department, and part-timers Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. If Ashwin was used sparingly, the other spinners remained fillers, only used to plug overs before the seamers came back. In favourable conditions, Dhoni has not hesitated in using Yuvraj in attacking plays with the ball. Here, though, the conditions did not favour such thinking.
The ploy, though, is likely to be seen in the World T20, when spinfriendly wickets might come back into play. While Ashwin has displayed the ability to adjust his game seamlessly across conditions, the same cannot be said of other bowlers, whose primary job in the team is to reduce the flow of runs.
For them, a good run with the ball in the Asia Cup was essential. And bowling the kind of overs they would need to in the World T20 would have helped them. Besides, the skipper too would have been able to correctly utilise them during the marquee event. That luxury, though, was not accorded to Dhoni during the Asia Cup and it will be an aspect he will look to correct in the two warm-up games India play before their first game in Nagpur against New Zealand on March 12. Dhoni, however, said he was confident that the conditions did not leave the spinners under-prepared.
“I feel India is the only cricketing nation that has persisted with a combination of three pacers and two spinners. We are a side that has more spinners in the side than most other teams. Quality matters and we have good quality bowlers. Even in this tournament, with little deviation on offer, they have still played well and I am sure they will play an important role in the World T20,” Dhoni said.