ICC World T20: Dhoni vs Bravo, Gayle vs Ashwin and other key battles in India vs West Indies semi-final

India and the West Indies featured in many a cricket expert’s favourites’ list for lifting the ICC World T20 title. Fans are in for what should turn out to be a battle of batsmen from both sides, with Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle dominating their respective line-ups.

The wicket at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is flat and that should make for a run-filled contest.

“I am looking to show what Chris Gayle is,” Gayle warned ominously on Tuesday.

“I have only batted twice but this (semi-final) is a perfect opportunity to actually start the tournament and try and pick up where I left off, get a big one for the team and put them in a winning position,” he added.

The 36-year-old described Kohli, who is the top run-scorer left in the tournament with 184, as a “world beater” but insisted neither he nor the West Indies were concerned about individual players.

India are looking to take another step on their quest to become the first team to win the World T20 twice — after their triumph in the inaugural 2007 edition — and the first on home soil.

They are also bidding to give inspirational 34-year-old captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni — who cannot be very far from announcing his retirement — the chance to go out on a high.

India were stunned by New Zealand in their first match but picked up three straight wins to qualify second from Group Two. In contrast, the Windies won their opening three games to top Group One before being shocked by minnows Afghanistan.

Following are some of the key clashes that may shape the fate of the match:

1. Chris Gayle vs Ravichandran Ashwin: At one corner we have the burly Jamaican who is considered by his captain as the “best T20 cricketer in the world”. On the other hand, we have a wily off-spinner who is considered world-class himself, and is by far India’s first-choice spinner.

The battle between Gayle and Ashwin is one that fans will witness at the start of the game. While the Wankhede pitch is traditionally known to be a treasure trove for batsmen, with Gayle eyeing his second century of the tournament at the same venue, Ashwin could prove to be the weapon that India need to stop Gayle in the early overs of the game.

It is not as if the two have not clashed in the 20-over format on Indian soil. Gayle and Ashwin are important cogs in the wheels of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, respectively, and the duo have a lot of respect for each other.

According to statistics on ESPNCricinfo , Ashwin holds a slight edge over Gayle, having dismissed him four times in the past, and barely letting him score. Gayle, who is 36 at the moment, will want to make the most of what is perhaps his chance to help his side win a major trophy in international cricket.

2. Virat Kohli vs Suleiman Benn: Kohli has been the Superman for the Indian batting line-up in the tournament so far, having anchored the successful chases in the matches against Pakistan and Australia in the Super 10s of this tournament.

On the other hand, the lanky West Indian orthodox spinner has come in real handy for captain Darren Sammy with his tight bowling.

Benn has bowled 15 overs so far in the tournament and conceded only 74 runs at an average of less than five. His spell against Sri Lanka, in which he conceded a mere 13 runs from his spell of four overs (without getting a wicket though) helped mount pressure on the opposition batsmen. They were forced to go for risky shots, and eventually fall victim to Samuel Badree and Dwayne Bravo.

Benn, however, will know that he is up against arguably the best T20 batsman in the world right now. Kohli’s fantastic temperament, as well as his sound technique and shot selection thwarted the Pakistani and Australian bowling attacks when the pressure on his shoulders was back-breaking.

For Benn, getting Kohli’s wicket in the middle overs of the Indian innings would be akin to killing the leader of enemy troops. However, Benn will most likely stick to an attacking line that will likely prevent Kohli from flexing his arms in an attempt to dry the run-scoring up as usual.

3. Rohit Sharma vs Samuel Badree: The opening combinations of the Indian batting and West Indian bowling couldn’t be more contrasting.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have failed consistently with the bat throughout the course of the tournament — whether outfoxed by clever variations or simply falling prey to brainless shots. The pair have always managed to put the burden of getting the ‘Men in Blue’ to a competitive total or chasing the target down, depending on the situation, on Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and skipper MS Dhoni.

Andre Russell and Samuel Badree are formidable opening bowling combination, and their ability to put the opposition on their way towards a below-par total was witnessed in matches such as the one against South Africa in Nagpur.

The pair therefore, will be looking forward to getting rid of Rohit and Dhawan, with Badree most likely targeting the former.

Rohit is not among the better players of spin among the Indian batsmen, and fell cheaply off Mitchell Santner’s bowling in the opening Super 10 fixture against New Zealand at Nagpur. Rohit, however, knows too well that he might quadruple the price for his head should he fail yet again.

4. MS Dhoni vs Dwayne Bravo: “Being able to bowl at the death when there is a big challenge, when you have to defend a particular score in the last over or the second-last over, those are the areas that I strive for.

“To know that for the last five years I’ve been playing for Chennai (CSK) and captain MS Dhoni trusts me so much that every time the team is in a spot of bother, he throws the ball to me. I enjoy that,” this is what Dwayne Bravo told Firstpost when he was asked what gives him the most thrill on a cricket pitch. He will be given the ball, undoubtedly, at the death by Darren Sammy. And more than likely, he will be up against the man he admires a lot.

But when Dhoni has the bat in hand and Bravo comes steaming in to bowl his slower balls, there will be no mutual respect. For, how the Indian captain does at the death will go a long way in deciding in what score India will put up

The West Indian all-rounder has been in good form this World T20 too, picking up six wickets in the four matches, at an economy rate of 6.81 — a figure inflated by figures of 2 for 41 against England in that run-fest in Wankhede. Even then he managed to pick up the wickets of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.

Dhoni, on the other hand, has been restricted to brief cameos so far except the match against New Zealand when he was fighting a lone battle with wickets tumbling around him. He has, however, looked in good touch. Having played with Bravo for so long, India will count on his abilities to pick up the pace variations at the end.

5. Andre Russell (the batsman) and Jasprit Bumrah: When was the last time India had a bowler who was so consistent with his yorkers at the death? Which, if any, Indian bowler in past could bowl six yorkers in an over when the match is on the line, like Bumrah did against Bangladesh?

While Bumrah has leaked runs in the past couple of matches at the beginning against Tamim Iqbal and Usman Khawaja (making a good case for Ashwin to bowl in the powerplay against West Indies), his death bowling has been damn near accurate.

But that will be tested to the hilt by the sheer power the West Indies lower-middle order possesses. West Indies batting order, except against Afghanistan and to an extent by South Africa, has not been stretched so far in this tournament, leaving the likes of Andre Russell not much work to do with the bat.

Russell did show glimpses of famed power-hitting against Sri Lanka when he smacked 20 runs in 8 balls at the end to take West Indies past the finish line.

In the big match at Wankhede, Russell’s form at the end will play a role as crucial as Dhoni’s against Bravo, in deciding who comes out on top. We have seen enough of the burly all-rounder in the IPL to know he can take the game away in a matter of minutes and should Bumrah err in his length, the ball could fly into the stands more often than Indian fans would like.

With inputs from AFP