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2019 to 2023: Indian batters have bid goodbye to fear
Looking to bat long and big in 2019, India have been quick off the blocks in this World Cup, leaving the anchor role to Kohli
India are unbeaten in the World Cup, their cricket has been exhilarating; the batting has been great and the pacemen have called the shots. But waiting in the semi-finals are New Zealand again. They had faced off in the previous World Cup and try as one might, the memories are difficult to banish completely.
A million-plus Indians have attended the World Cup; almost half the number coming from stands packed to the rafters for the India games. That’s not to say the atmosphere was any less festive in 2019 when India won seven of their nine league matches (one was washed out) before the semi-final heartbreak in the United Kingdom; Indian fans are everywhere.
But India’s road to semi-final qualification has a much more sorted feel this time around and that will give their supporters more hope. The most important change has been to the home team’s batting template.
The top order was always India’s engine room. They steered the team to the 2017 Champions trophy final and to the World Cup semis in 2019. They would bat the bulk of the overs at a certain pace, creating the launch pad for the lower middle order to capitalise on. In both those tournaments, it worked until the knock-out rounds. Sadly, when it mattered most, they faltered and India were knocked out. One bad match or simply the wrong approach?
In this World Cup, as if to course correct, when in doubt, India has attacked. It’s helped that the pitches have been, by and large, batting friendly. Every batter has shown a sense of urgency which has helped lift India’s overall scoring rate from 5.66 in 2019 to 6.41 – an uptick that translates into 38 runs more per innings.
Take the strike rates of batters from 1 to 7. Except Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, everyone has been scoring at over a run-a-ball. Rahul is performing the difficult role of batting at No 5 and wicket-keeping; he too is picking up speed as his rapid hundred against Netherlands showed.
Kohli is the only designated anchor in the side, who is allowed time to pace his innings. That aligned with his voracious appetite for runs and it comes as no surprise that the India No 3 has more runs (594) than anyone else in the tournament.
After completing his 49th ODI hundred in Kolkata, Kohli said, “We got a great start from Rohit and Shubman, my job was to keep it going. The ball started gripping and turning after the 10th over, it slowed down and then my role was to bat deep with the others playing around me. That was what was communicated to me by the team management.”
Leading from the front
The driving force behind India’s great starts - India scores 23 runs more in powerplay compared to 2019 - has been captain Sharma. Otherwise, a run-machine in the format, Sharma has taken it upon himself to play the high-risk game. He’s has succeeded with such flying colours that even while being the fastest of all batters in the powerplay (SR 129.53), he’s still managed to score 503 runs - the fourth most in the tournament. His five hundreds and 648 tournament runs were not enough in 2019. He's not holding back now; his 24 sixes are already 10 more than the last edition.
Importantly, when there has been a need to be calculative, like against England on the turner in Lucknow, Sharma showed he could do that. His 87 (101) was still the leading individual score in the match (and scored at a fair clip too). On another occasion against Australia, when India was reduced to 2/3, Kohli and Rahul were there to guide the team to safety.
Sharma’s young opening partner Shubman Gill has batted with a similar sense of freedom (SR 104.65), but he’s played to his strengths. He doesn’t go aerial unless the ball is in his arc.
Shreyas Iyer only stuttered in the tournament with his back-to-back dismissals to short balls, an old weakness. When the team management strongly backing his case, Iyer responded with a spectacular fifty against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. Batting with a tournament SR of 106.58, his last three scores have been 82, 77 and 128*. Together with Rahul, India's middle-order showing has been hugely impressive.
The lower-middle order hasn’t got as much time to spend at the crease. When they have, Suryakumar Yadav - 49 (47b) Vs Eng and 22 (14b) Vs SA - and Ravindra Jadeja - 35 (24b) Vs SL and 29* (15b) Vs SA - have delivered cameos, covering up for Hardik Pandya's loss to the best of their ability.
Contrast this to the last World Cup, where Sharma-Rahul-Kohli collectively got more runs (1452). But given India's fragile middle-order, MS Dhoni quite often was left to do a repair job. In two key matches, against England and the semi-finals versus New Zealand, Dhoni, with his attacking powers on the wane, was left with too much to do. Centimetres short of the crease, Dhoni’s run-out in his last international outing would signal India’s World Cup exit. This time, every batter, in a bid to not fall short, is taking a head start.
