In the last few days, there has been a lot of negativity built up around the Indian cricket team, and the only way they can blow it away quickly is via a win. Later tonight, they are playing England in the third T20I at Trent Bridge. The quicker they do it, the better it will be for new captain Shreyas Iyer’s morale.
So, it has been a baptism by fire for Iyer. Under his leadership, the team lost back-to-back T20Is to Ireland, something that even the most paranoid of Indian supporters would not have envisioned. The rain washed out the opening match against England after Iyer’s men posted 189/7 in Chester-le-Street. In the second T20I in Manchester on Saturday, they posted 190/7 but lost the match with six balls to go, with Ravi Bishnoi conceding 29 runs in the 17th over that saw him bowl two no-balls, and both free-hits were dispatched for sixes by Jacob Bethell.
Also Read: Is the lack of bonding with ‘outsider’ Shreyas Iyer the reason behind India’s dismal show in the UK?
The first thing that India need today is vintage batting from one of Ishan Kishan and Iyer. It’s easier said than done: it’s England, not India where conditions favour batsmen greatly. But in order to win, India will need a top-notch effort from at least one of them. Iyer scored 68 off 47 balls in the first game and 37 off 22 balls in the second. Kishan, after horrible outings in Ireland and Chester-le-Street, made 49 off 40 balls in Manchester. As you can see, his innings was way too slow. In the Indian conditions, if Kishan played 40 balls, don’t expect anything less than 80. Trent Bridge is not batting-friendly anymore. In the ongoing Vitality T20 Blast, the average score has been 165 here. Iyer, though contributed in the first two matches, to beat England in England he too will have to up his game.
Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi look good for the powerplay, but it’s after that, between the seventh and 15th overs, that India need to do a little better. 74 runs came in Chester-le-Street and 79 at Manchester during that period. Another 15-20 runs can make a lot of difference. Make no mistake, India won the T20 World Cup earlier this year purely on batting. Three 250-plus in the space of four games. If not a similar batting performance — if they are batting first — they will have to score 210-220 at least, considering they don’t have Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for this rubber, two of the most reliable names in T20 cricket today.
Some bowling tweaks!
In bowling, they have not been bad on this UK tour, but a terrible performance from even one of the regular bowlers can spoil all the prior good work. In the first T20I against Ireland at Belfast, Prasidh Krishna (0/57) was the culprit, and Bishnoi didn’t help India the other day with figures of 0/60. He bowled three no-balls in all. India also need to look at the role of Shivam Dube. If he can’t be trusted to bowl a couple of overs in these bowling-friendly conditions, he can’t be a great fit over there. Plus, India played three spinners with Axar Patel being the all-rounder. Not sure if that’s a great idea either. Suryansh Shedge or Prince Yadav can be given a shot. Shedge can contribute with both bat and ball, it may be noted.
There is nothing seriously wrong with Iyer’s team. They just need to fine-tune certain aspects of their game and judiciously choose the XI. A win today can bring back the old confidence and make them a very dangerous outfit for the remaining two games.