ICC T20 World Cup 2016: 5 Hits and 5 Misses from the Super 10 Stage

Hit: India’s bowling

CaptionHardik Pandya bowled a crucial last over versus Bangladesh

India is a team that has always been known for its batting. Often, India’s batsmen play a major role in the team’s progression in ICC tournaments. However, this time round, it is the bowlers who deserve a lot of credit for India’s progression into the last 4. Be it the veteran Ashish Nehra or youngsters Hardik Pandya or Jasprit Bumrah, each bowler has done his job effectively and made life easy for the Indian captain.

In the Super 10 stage, the Indian bowlers picked up 27 wickets at an average of 20.33 and an economy rate of 7.03. In the process, they ensured that some dangerous batsmen like Martin Guptill, Corey Anderson, Shahid Afridi, Glenn Maxwell and David Warner couldn’t get going against them.

Against Bangladesh, the Indian bowlers managed to defend 146 against arguably the strongest Bangladesh batting lineup ever. While in the game versus Australia, they conceded 53 runs in the opening four overs. However, they pulled things back thereafter as they allowed the mighty Aussies to score a mere 107 runs in the 16 overs that followed.

Hardik Pandya in particular needs to be singled out for praise. There were many who felt that he was the weak link in India’s bowling. He bowled the crucial over against Bangladesh as India defended a single run in the last three balls to win against all adds.

Even in the game against Australia, he stuck to his usual game and contained the Australian batsmen during the middle overs. While Ashish Nehra didn’t give away too much during his spells, he ensured that the other bowlers followed suit as he mentored them during their spell. Jasprit Bumrah was at his usual best during the death overs and spinners Ashwin and Jadeja controlled the proceedings during the middle overs.