T20 World Cup 2022: 2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in their Super 12 clash against Zimbabwe
Team India went all guns blazing to hammer Zimbabwe by 71 runs at the MCG on Sunday, November 6 to set up a blockbuster 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final clash against England.
India posted an imposing 186/5 after electing to bat, with fifties from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav leading the charge. All six bowlers got into the wickets as Zimbabwe were bundled out for 115 in the 18th over. The Men in Blue will need to carefully analyze their performance in the Super 12 stage before taking on England.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke by India in their T20 World Cup clash against Zimbabwe.
#3 Mistake - Top-order batting approach
Yes, India have posted a few big totals in the T20 World Cup, but their batting approach simply isn't sustainable in the long run. A couple of early wickets or some consistently tight bowling could spell doom for the Men in Blue, something they were lucky not to encounter against Zimbabwe.
KL Rahul was more than happy to play out a maiden in the first over bowled by Richard Ngarava, even when it was easy to nudge the ball down to either third man or fine leg and get off strike. He made up for his early dots, but quality opposition might not give him that leeway.
Virat Kohli, while he has been arguably India's best batter in the tournament, has sometimes gotten stuck at the start of his innings. Against Zimbabwe, his last 15 balls yielded only nine runs.
India need to be more keen on making the most of the field restrictions, even if they encounter negative matchups. Suryakumar Yadav can't bail them out with his brilliance every time.
#2 Masterstroke - Getting the bowlers into rhythm
Each Indian bowler sent down at least two overs against Zimbabwe and produced results as well.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Shami set the tone with one wicket each in the powerplay, Hardik Pandya chipped in with the wicket of Craig Ervine immediately after the field restrictions were lifted. Both Shami and Hardik would scalp another wicket each, and the spinners joined in on the fun too.
Ravichandran Ashwin ended up with three victims, all left-handers. Axar Patel had a torrid time in the middle as he leaked runs, but he still sent down 20 deliveries and polished off the last wicket.
Even if Axar wasn't particularly impressive, Rohit looked at the bigger picture and rested his premier fast bowlers towards the end of the Zimbabwe innings. He tried to ease his spinners into rhythm, giving them the chance to execute their plans.
#1 Mistake - Replacing Dinesh Karthik with Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant got his first game of the T20 World Cup against Zimbabwe, replacing Dinesh Karthik. Rohit claimed that the team management wanted to give the young keeper some playing time ahead of the knockout stages, but the move didn't make much sense.
Karthik has scores of 1, 6 and 7 in the tournament thus far and hasn't been able to make an impression. Hardik's dwindling pace-hitting ability Down Under has left India crying out for a finisher, and there's no doubt that the veteran keeper is the side's best bet in that regard.
Moreover, England, whom India will face in the semi-finals, don't have a left-arm spinner in their playing XI. And Adil Rashid, despite his Player of the Match performance against Sri Lanka, hasn't been at his best.
India, whose intention seems to be to bring Karthik back into the mix against England, really should've played him on Sunday and eased him into some form, just like they did with their bowlers.