 "Rishabh Pant finished the match for India against Ireland before producing a crucial 42 against a red-hot Pakistani attack in the subsequent fixture. Reuters")
Team India’s group stage campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup expectedly ended on a damp note on Saturday with their only fixture at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida ending in a complete washout .
T20 World Cup 2024: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
The Men in Blue’s group-stage campaign thus can only be gauged from their performances at the Nassau County International Stadium in New York City, a 34,000-capacity temporary structure built specifically for the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup.
The New York wicket certainly was a spicy one that was far from the high-scoring surfaces that players are more accustomed to in T20Is and produced a series of low-scoring thrillers that came as a refreshing change in a format heavily dominated by batters.
The dicey wicket also asked questions of the Indian batters while bringing out the best in the Jasprit Bumrah-led attack, and even showcased the Rohit Sharma-led side’s never-say-die attitude that helped them win a crucial encounter from a near-hopeless position.
Before we shift our attention to the Super 8s that get underway on Wednesday, 19 June with India taking on Afghanistan the following day, we summarise the Men in Blue’s group stage campaign so far:
Pant and Pandya bounce back
India’s biggest positives from the group stage have been the successful return of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to the Indian team. While Pandya donned the blue jersey for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in last year’s World Cup, Pant was back in the national colours since he survived an accident in December 2022.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPant not only finished the game for India against Ireland after stitching a match-winning 54-run partnership with skipper Rohit, his knock of 42 off 31 balls against Pakistan in the subsequent fixture against arch-rivals Pakistan prevented the Indians from collapsing to a sub-100 total, thereby giving the bowling unit some cushion.
It’s not just the runs that he’s scored in the tournament so far that has been a source of joy for the team as well as for its fans. The wicketkeeper-batter has proved a useful option for the No 3 position after Virat Kohli was promoted to an opener, making Pant even more versatile as a batter who is just as adept in the top three as he is in the middle order.
Seam-bowling all-rounder Pandya, meanwhile, has been a revelation with the ball so far in the tournament and is currently the top-ranked Indian in the wicket-takers list. With the bat, he had showcased his return as a finisher with an unbeaten 40 against Bangladesh in the warm-up clash, also in New York.
Read | Pandya will be like Yuvraj of 2011 in 2024 T20 World Cup, says Sreesanth
The group stage, however, has been all about his bowling skills and his ability to strike at crucial moments while remaining an economical option by conceding runs at less than seven-an-over.
While he has had limited chances with the bat in the group stage, Pandya will hope to get a big knock or two under his belt once the Super 8s get underway.
Additionally, India’s middle-order duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube gave a good account of themselves in the run chase against the United States with an unbroken 72-run partnership , the former scoring his 50th T20 half-century in the process. SKY had been dismissed for single-digit scores in the first two matches of the tournament while Dube had been dismissed for 3 in his maiden World Cup outing.
Their return to form in what turned out to be India’s final game before the Super 8s suggests India’s middle order is in good hands at the moment.
Kohli fails to fire
One of the biggest talking points heading into the T20 World Cup as far as the Indian team was concerned was the top-order, specifically Rohit’s opening partner, with the vastly experienced Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is relatively new to the scene, being the two options in the fray.
The Men in Blue eventually went with the former along expected lines and promoted Pant to the No 3 spot, freeing up a spot in the middle order for an extra all-rounder.
Team India winning three out of three in New York, however, doesn’t mask the concern surrounding Kohli’s form in the ongoing tournament. The former India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain had been a big hit in the IPL that concluded right before the T20 World Cup, winning the Orange Cap with his tally of 741 runs, and both fans and experts backed him to set the stage on fire in the US and the Caribbean as well.
The batter superstar, however, has been dismissed for scores of 1, 4 and 0 so far in the tournament — getting dismissed for a golden duck for only the second time in T20Is during the match against the USA.
Against Ireland and Pakistan, Kohli perished while trying to take the attack to the opposition — getting caught at third man of Mark Adair’s bowling and slicing the ball straight to point off Naseem Shah. And in Saurabh Netravalkar’s second over during India’s chase of the 111-run target set by the Americans, it was the familiar story of India’s batting superstar poking at a delivery wide outside off that had a hint of movement, resulting in a simple catch for the wicketkeeper.
Also Read | Sreesanth backs ‘Ro-Ko’ despite shaky starts; bats for Samson’s inclusion
Batting coach Vikram Rathour, however, doesn’t believe there is a concern over his form in the Indian dressing room at the moment and expects the former captain to score big sooner rather than later.
“He (Kohli) has been batting superbly from the tournament that he came from (IPL). Couple of dismissals here, doesn’t change anything, he is batting really well,” Rathour told reporters after the match against Canada got washed out on Saturday.
“Actually, it’s good that he is a little hungrier, he is really keen to do well and really switched on. It’s a good space to be as a batsman, I think.
“Looking forward to some good games and we’ve watched some good innings from him,” the former India opener added.
Indian pace battery firing as a unit
Another major positive has been the way their bowling unit has made batters dance to their tunes. Special credit should go to the pace department that has hunted in a pack, with spearhead Jasprit Bumrah once again leading the way.
The 2007 T20 world champions had highlighted their red-hot bowling form by reducing Ireland to 50/8 in their tournament opener before a couple of handy contributions allowed the Paul Stirling-led side to finish on 97.
It was a similar story against the United States, the team that had pulled off an upset for the ages against Pakistan in Dallas and had made a cakewalk of a 195-run chase against Canada in the tournament opener, restricting the Aaron Jones-led side to a modest 110/8.
What makes India’s bowling performance standout in this tournament is the fact that they haven’t relied on one individual to get the breakthroughs. Pandya had collected 3/27 against Ireland and would later finish with excellent figures of 2/14 against the USA that included a maiden.
Arshdeep had been somewhat expensive against Ireland and had also leaked runs against Pakistan, but made up for it in the end with a tidy final over against the latter. He would then register his career-best haul of 4/9 against the USA that included a double strike in the very first over.
Bumrah, meanwhile, has been doing Bumrah things all along. The 30-year-old Mumbai Indians pacer conceded just six runs in three overs against Ireland while collecting two wickets. It was his haul of 3/14 against Pakistan in the subsequent match however, that proved to be a game-changer and prevented India from suffering their second defeat against their arch-rivals in three T20 World Cup meetings.
His dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan in the Pakistan game was what began India’s turnaround, and highlighted India’s never-say-die attitude.
Let’s not forget Mohammed Siraj, who might not be among the wickets at the moment but has done his part in building pressure on the opposition with his economic spells.
The spinners have so far been restricted to a supporting role but are expected to hog the limelight once the Men in Blue shift to the Caribbean, where they face Afghanistan in their first Super 8 clash on Thursday.
A Bombay Bong with an identity crisis. Passionately follow cricket. Hardcore fan of Team India, the Proteas and junk food. Self-proclaimed shutterbug.