ICC Champions Trophy, India vs Bangladesh: IND’s strengths and weaknesses
India face South Asian rivals Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 semi-finals at Edgbaston on Thursday. HT looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the Virat Kohli-led team
After defeating South Africa in a comfortable fashion on Sunday, defending champions India will take on Bangladesh in the second ICC Champions Trophy semi-final on Thursday with odds in favour of Virat Kohli’s men to go through to the last stage.
However, it may not be as easy as it looks on paper as Bangladesh have pulled off upsets and have shrugged off the ‘minnows’ tag in the recent past. As the defending champions gear up for a tricky fixture against the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side, HT looks at the strengths and weaknesses of India:
Strengths:
An in-form Shikhar Dhawan: With 271 runs in three matches, Dhawan currently leads the tally for the highest run-getter in the tournament and is in supreme touch of late. He has continued his purple patch from the Indian Premier League and has helped India post imposing totals in the three matches so far.
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Fielding: After a below-par show in the first two matches, India’s fielding department rose to life in the third match, where some athletic display coupled with a disciplined bowling effort helped them restrict South Africa to just 191. There were three run-outs, and constant pressure from the deep meant that the risky singles and twos were no longer taken.
Batting: Even though Rohit Sharma faltered in the last game, he has been extremely consistent and had helped India cross the 300-mark along with Shikhar Dhawan in the first two matches. Similarly, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli too got back to form against South Africa after falling cheaply against Sri Lanka. Among the teams that have already qualified for the semis, India have lost the least number of wickets (11).
Weaknesses:
Lower order not tested: Because of the prolific form India’s top four batsmen are in at the moment, the lower order has virtually not been tested in the tournament so far. India had lost six wickets against England, but when no. 7 Ravindra Jadeja walked out to take guard, there were only four balls remaining.
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Bowling inconsistency: Apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, none of the other Indian bowlers managed to pick wickets in all the three matches. While Bumrah went wicket-less in the first two games, Jadeja was hammered for 52 runs in his six overs against Sri Lanka. Bhuvneshwar (10th) is also the only Indian bowler in the top-10 list of the highest wicket-takers in the tournament.
Slow starts: India have never gone past the 50-run mark in the first powerplay in the three matches. While openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan managed to put up just 46 and 48 runs against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, respectively, the tally came down to 37 against South Africa on Sunday.