Image Credit- AFP
Even in the nets, white-ball hitters dislike being
fussed over. However, you might not be so depressed if you are the captain and
one of your fast bowlers is making the ball do all kinds of crazy things.
On the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium practise pitches, Rohit
Sharma was prepared for the Mohammed Shami challenge. Regretfully, there won’t
be a match play match between the hitter with the greatest PowerPlay scoring
rate (129.53) and the bowler with the top bowling strike rate (12.00) in this
event. Thus, this supposed gladiatorial combat took place in short bursts to a
mostly empty stadium while those present were engrossed in the commotion of
preparation for the game.
After Shami veered two balls in a row over his outside
edge, Rohit became alert. When the following one sped past the Indian captain’s
attempt at a forward defence and struck his front pad, Shami celebrated by
raising his arm. The batter nodded and gave the ball back, and the bowler
grinned. Rohit had planned his retort as Shami came in next. He got out and
mid-off smashed a flat-batted loft.
In essence, that little sequence explained why India
has been winning this tournament thus far and why nine other teams have
attempted and failed to figure out the India riddle up to this time. Their
pacers are quick and adept; they can retreat and wait for an error, or they can
assault with a relentless tempo. Every ball is an event when they’ve been on
song, which is most of the time.
This is something Rohit has done frequently during
this World Cup; most notably, in the league match between these two sides in
Dharamsala, when he was defeated by Matt Henry but denied the sharpest seamer
in New Zealand an opportunity to focus on a length. He came out and gave him a
wide-off, long-on six. Rohit scooted across and lapped Henry over short fine
for a four as he stretched his length up.
The greatest strategy to get around precision would
seem to be counterattacks. Before the Netherlands briefly counterattacked at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, Shami and company had not yet done so
against them at this World Cup. It’s true that one side scored 410 under the
most accommodating batting circumstances, and India was still in the
experimental stage. Perhaps Max O’Dowd just pointed the way when nobody else
was looking.
New Zealand scored just 34 runs in the PowerPlay
against India’s seamers in Dharamsala. Siraj, who had been aiming for swing but
erring on the wider lengths during the World Cup, let up just 16 runs in his
five overs to remove Devon Conway from the game. New Zealand may only need to
ask themselves, “What would Rohit do?” when they bat in Mumbai on
what should be a much better batting surface.
Looking within, the solution to the spin issue is
revealed: What action did Daryl Mitchell take?
Despite the fact that India leads the competition in
most measures related to bowling, New Zealand did able to score 185/2 at a rate
of 6.17 per over throughout the middle overs. Mitchell’s dismissal of Kuldeep
Yadav, the left-arm leg-spinner who scored 43 off 28 balls, was the key to this
uncommon phase victory. He used his long levers to knock massive sixes off
Kuldeep, which was one aspect of his strategy.
Attacking India’s bowling attack, which is ranked
among the best in the world, will also come with a very high risk-to-reward
ratio. Ask Ben Stokes, whose attempt to do the same failed miserably. The
outcome of the wager in this game could result in elimination. Because of this,
knockout games typically start with a pause as teams assess one another and try
not to make the same mistake twice. However, with their depth in the batting
lineup, technical skill, and join, New Zealand’s highly flexible lineup is capable
of a counterintuitive move.