When it comes down to chasing totals in high pressure matches no one can do it better than Virat Kohli. India's test captain proved his mettle once again against the Aussies and took India into the semis with a thrilling victory.
It's been a brilliant comeback by the Indian team after losing their first match against New Zeland in Nagpur. While we witnessed Kohli's masterclass against Pakistan and Australia, Bangladesh was a case of handling the nerves.
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The full house at Mohali went crazy as MS Dhoni hit the winning runs against Australia but in the middle of all this drama, one fact that was overshadowed, none of these victories were as convincing as they should be. This is a thing of concern for the Men in Blue because you cannot expect Virat Kohli to take you through the line every time.
What makes these narrow margin of wins more worrying is that this has happened mostly because Indian batsmen have failed to perform to their full potential. This is probably the first time in the history of Indian cricket that the bowling unit is looking stronger than the batting unit.
Even after some poor starts and collective batting failures India has somehow managed to qualify for the semis but going into the knockout stage a few things have to be changed or rather improve upon to make sure that we end up with the cup.
The curious case of Shikhar Dhawan
Ever since making his test debut against Australia, Shikhar Dhawan has been an important part of the Indian team in all three formats of the game. The Indian management also has shown immense faith in Shikhar Dhawan. I have always believed that Dhawan is a genuine match winner and his ability to perform in big tournaments (Champions Trophy 2013, World Cup 2015 etc.) makes him the obvious choice above Ajinkya Rahane.
But given his poor run of form, I think it’s time for Dhoni to take a tough call. The thing that is more heartbreaking than Dhawan's form is his poor shot selection. The Delhi southpaw has been finding new ways to get out.
For example, look at the match against Australia. For once Dhawan looked in a good touch. He was timing the bowl nicely and already had two boundaries in the first 10 balls. But just when the fans thought that it could be his day, he top edged a short one from Coulter-Nile. While there has never been a question mark over his ability, it's his temperament that comes under the radar.
In last 8 T20 innings, his scores read as 13, 23, 6, 1, 60, 16*, 1, 2 (latest match first). These are not the kind of numbers you expect from a top order Indian batsman.
Also, the fact that he is keeping Ajinkya Rahane, supposedly India's second best batsman after Virat Kohli, out of the playing 11 makes little sense now. Rahane is one man who can give India's top order the kind of stability it needs right now. A perfect mix of patience and aggression, Rahane knows how to pace his innings well. In addition to that, he is a brilliant fielder not only in the outfield but also in the slips.
Now let's talk about numbers. Rahane averages around 21 in T20 internationals with a strike rate of 114 and two scores of 50+ in 17 innings. These are not very good numbers for a top order batsman. So is this the reason why Dhawan is preferred over Rahane? Wrong.
Dhawan averages 20.8 in T20’s with a strike of 113 and has only two 50+ scores in 22 innings. There is not much to differentiate between the two. Moreover, Rahane averages 34 in IPL which gives him an edge over Dhawan's average of 31.
Dhoni is known for making strong decisions and I won't be surprised if Rahane walks out to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma instead of Dhawan.
The Middle Order Woes
No batsman other than Virat Kohli has looked confident on the crease. Starting from the bottom, Ravinder Jadeja has been moved way down to number 8 since the arrival of Hardik Pandya and hardly gets a chance to bat these days.
Pandya has shown glimpses of what he is capable of but has failed to survive on difficult wickets and in difficult situations. Dhoni has somewhat found his big hitting capabilities but hasn't got a chance to spend much time on the wicket in this tournament.
This brings us down to two names Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. Both are big names not just in Indian cricket but also in world cricket. When it comes to t20 cricket there cannot be better batsmen to take number 4 & 5 slots in the team but as we know numbers never present the true picture.
The less said about Raina's form, the better. The newly appointed Gujarat Lions captain is going through the worst phase of his career. His last 8 T20 scores read as 10, 30, 0,1, 41*, 1*, 25*, 1 (latest match first) and his last half-century in T20 internationals came way back in 2010.
For any player, these are very bad numbers and for someone of Raina's calibre, this is saddening. On some other day, I would have been in favour of dropping Raina for Rahane or even for a less experienced Pawan Negi who can hit the ball hard and also bowl a few overs but with concern over Yuvraj Singh's fitness, India will need some experience on the field and Raina can provide that.
Moving on to Yuvraj Singh, there is no doubt that he has played some crucial knocks since his return to the side and even when he didn't look comfortable on the wicket, he somehow managed to hold one end. Having said, that there is no denying the fact that he is no more a player that he used to be.
He is no more a free-flowing batsman and this could prove dangerous for Indian team like it did back in 2014 final but as we all know, Yuvraj is a true fighter and India has never won a World Cup without his contribution (barring 1983).
As of now, there is a big question mark over his fitness and if he fails to recover in time, it will leave a void in team India's middle order. Depending upon his fitness, Negi should replace either Yuvraj or Raina for the next game.
It has been a while since Pawan Negi is warming the bench and all those who follow IPL must be aware of his capabilities, both with the bat as well as with the ball. One more thing that comes into the equation is West Indies’ weakness against spin which was exposed against Afghanistan too. Negi would provide another attacking spin option to his captain.
Dhoni is known for pulling his cards wisely, he has done it in the past and this could just be his trump card for this tournament.
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