5 Strategies India can deploy to stop the English batting juggernaut in the T20 series
Until a few years ago England were regarded as a team who struggled to get the hand of limited over cricket and were often accused of using a template that was probably a decade old. Eventually, that led to the debacle of the 2015 World Cup and the England cricket board decided to completely revolutionise the team’s approach to limited overs cricket.
Since then the team has gone on a different trajectory altogether and become one of the most formidable limited overs sides in world cricket. They have given chances to young batsmen and power-hitters who have consistently taken apart most bowling attacks in the world. Tomorrow, England will take on India in the 1st of the three T20s at home and for the visitors; it is a tough test considering the sort of mayhem the home side’s batsmen have unleashed recently. So here is a look at the 5 ways in which India can stop or at least somewhat control the English batting juggernaut.
#5 Death bowling
In Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India had one the world’s pre-eminent death bowling pair but the injury to the former means that the team’s prospects in the last 4 overs of the innings look decidedly gloomy. Deepak Chahar, who impressed with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL is going to replace Bumrah in the squad but it is likely that either of Umesh Yadav or Siddarth Kaul is going to be drafted into the squad.
Both those bowlers have their own strengths but none of them is anywhere close to Bumrah when it comes to death bowling and on balance, perhaps India should go for Siddarth Kaul. Kaul has displayed an innate ability to bowl at the death while in this year’s IPL, Yadav was often bowled by RCB captain Virat Kohli prior to the commencement of the slog overs. Hence it is most likely going to be Kaul, who will be tasked with the job of sending down the yorkers, slower balls and knuckle balls in the last 4 overs. Kaul is going to be the player who should be the bowler India should go for if the team wants to have some sort of control in the death overs.