Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India have decided to go with an aggressive mindset in the powerplay of the super-eight stage in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and United States of America (USA), and keep on nailing the boundaries one after another, irrespective of the fact of a new batter walking in.
The modern generation of the T20s has changed a lot, where most of these games have been quite high scoring, and it’s the opening partnership that generally makes the platform on such cases helping the team aim to the point.
Against Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, India went with a positive mindset that saw only one of their batters celebrating an unbeaten fifty, which was Hardik Pandya, while others kept on chipping in with vital contributions from the other end, and eventually, the team score reached to nearly 200 at the end of 20-overs.
‘We are not used to an approach where…’- Ravichandran Ashwin
The veteran India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin believes India have done the right thing by going with this new approach of prioritizing the 20s and 30s, rather than focusing on a milestone or one of their batters staying in the middle till the end.
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Bangladesh captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, on winning the toss decided to invite the India team for batting, as he started the attack with the off-spinner Mehidy Hasan, to whom Rohit went after from the very first delivery of the innings. When Shakib Al Hasan came into the attack from the other end, they kept nailing the boundaries.
Even in the ball where the captain got out, the intention was quite clear, as he targeted to cross the infield and use the powerplay to get more runs in that period. The execution was a bit short, as Shakib smartly pulled the length a bit back, to see Rohit to the dressing room. The opener, by then, however, had already scored 23 runs in 11 balls, with the help of three fours and one six.
The focus was also on Virat Kohli, who was going through a lean phase, and whether could he come out with all guns blazing in the contest. Kohli used his feet and showed his class with a few great shots, until he missed the straight ball to get out on 37 runs in 28 balls, shouldering on a boundary and three over-boundaries.
Rishabh Pant took his time in the middle till Kohli was there, but after the drinks break, he went after the bowlers too to nail up 36 runs in 24 balls, with the help of four boundaries and a couple of sixes at the end. Suryakumar Yadav came out with a six on the first ball, before getting dismissed on the very next ball.
India’s new power-hitter Shivam Dube was struggling in the middle for a lion’s share of the period, before finishing with 34 runs in 24 runs, while Hardik Pandya showed his courage and excellent skill of standing till the end for his 50*-run knock in 27 balls, thanks to the four boundaries and three sixes, which pushed India to 196/5, in their 20-overs.
‘We are not used to an approach where batsmen throw it away after making 30’s 20’s, but it is about time we embrace an approach like this especially while batting first.’ The Tamil Nadu-born India spinner; R Ashwin penned down on his ‘X’ handle. ‘Top Intent from all the Indian batters so far.’
The former opening batter Wasim Jaffer also observes the same and praises India’s top six for going with a positive intent to keep the run rate high.
‘Refreshing to see the intent from the Indian batters today. Every batter in top 6 hit at least a six and ensured there was no drop in run rate even after wickets fell. Top inns and finish from @hardikpandya7 #INDvBAN #T20WC.’ Wasim Jaffer wrote on his ‘X’ account.
Some very good bowling from India restricted the Tigers to 146/8 in their 20-overs, as Jasprit Bumrah ended up with 2/13 in four overs, while Kuldeep Yadav returned with 3/19 in his four overs.
India’s very next ‘super-eight’ clash is against Australia on June 24, at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, in Gros Islet, St Lucia.