2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in their 2024 T20 World Cup match vs Australia
It wasn't an easy victory by any stretch of the imagination, with Travis Head taking a liking to the Indian bowlers once again. But the Men in Blue held their nerve and executed well to beat Australia by 24 runs in their 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 clash on Monday, June 24.
With the win, India officially progressed to the semifinals, where they will take on England. Australia, meanwhile, need Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan if they are to make the knockout stages.
Rohit Sharma and Co., who are unbeaten so far in the competition, will be reasonably happy with their performances. However, there is still room for improvement, and India will be keen on finetuning their approach ahead of the semifinals.
On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by India in their 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Australia.
#3 Mistake - Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube took too long to get going
This has been an issue for India throughout the 2024 T20 World Cup. Two key cogs in the middle order, Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube, have made important contributions but haven't been as fluent as the team would like.
Pant has started slowly in the powerplay on occasion, and while he has had games where his strike rate has caught up, that's an unsustainable approach in the long run. Dube, meanwhile, has been a shadow of his destructive best.
Against Australia, Pant managed only two runs off his first eight balls before attempting to break free. Dube, on the other hand, played four dots in his first six balls before suffering another slowdown in the back half of his innings.
India can't afford this going forward.
#2 Masterstroke - Rohit Sharma picked his spots superbly
Not only did Rohit Sharma hammer a sensational 92, but he also did so while accessing all areas of the ground. The Indian skipper picked his spots with masterful precision as he took his team to a solid powerplay total and carried on through the middle overs as well.
Rohit targeted the leg-side off Mitchell Starc and tried to direct the ball towards the slightly shorter boundaries at all times. He also attempted to hit the ball in the direction of the wind and wasn't afraid to use his feet.
The rest of the Indian batters struggled with their shot selection, but Rohit knew exactly what needed to be done on Saturday.
#1 Mistake - India's usage of Hardik Pandya's bowling was suboptimal
After David Warner was dismissed in the first over, India had a little more leeway concerning using their left-arm spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Travis Head doesn't have great numbers against that style of bowling, and Rohit could've used his spinners in the first 10 overs.
However, Head's presence at the crease meant that the Indian skipper tried to get three overs out of Hardik Pandya early on. Bowling the all-rounder in the all-important sixth over was never going to be a good idea, and the Aussie batters cashed in.
Even after Mitchell Marsh was dismissed, Pandya was brought back instead of squeezing out an over or two of spin. That nearly cost India the game as the vice-captain was picked apart in his first three overs, putting Australia close to par with the asking rate.