With the 2024 T20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies and United States, the ongoing five-match bilateral series holds a lot of importance from the point of view of India’s planning for the tournament. And Thursday’s first T20, which India lost, was a perfect template in terms of assessing the challenges India could face next year.
India coach Rahul Dravid knows only too well. He was captain of the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean where the team was knocked out in the first round due to the failure of his batters to force the pace.
On Thursday, when Windies chose to bat and made 149/6, the total looked sub-par. After all, India were packed with IPL run machines. But in tough batting conditions at Tarouba, Trinidad, India fell apart in the second half of the chase to lose by four runs.
Batting was a struggle for India at Trinidad. Those well versed with the conditions in the Caribbean, however, are not surprised. Batting at most Caribbean venues poses a different set of challenges from what IPL stars are used to at home. The pitch for Sunday’s second T20 at Guyana’s Providence Stadium is also expected to play slow.
On such surfaces, there are not many wicket-taking balls, but stroke-making is a challenge. The playing surfaces are sluggish and humidity is energy-sapping, affecting the batter’s power-hitting ability.
{{/usCountry}}On such surfaces, there are not many wicket-taking balls, but stroke-making is a challenge. The playing surfaces are sluggish and humidity is energy-sapping, affecting the batter’s power-hitting ability.
{{/usCountry}}Middle overs is the most difficult period to force the pace. Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson and Axar Patel all learnt this hard lesson. With 37 to get off 30 balls and Hardik and Samson in the middle, the game was in India’s grasp. But West Indies were able to strangle their chase.
As India prepare for the second T20, finding a way to force the pace in the middle overs will be key against a West Indies pace attack adept at change-ups, as mentioned by skipper Rovman Powell.
“He (ex-skipper Jason Holder) summed up the conditions very well. At the interval, he told us in the dressing room – ‘pace off, force the Indians to hit the ball, not use the pace’. And I think today Jase (4-1-19-2) was fantastic,” Powell said about their bowling gameplan to throttle India.
RECORD DOESN'T MATTER
The 2024 World Cup team can’t be straightforward picks based on IPL and domestic records. Those with great records may or may not be suited to the Caribbean conditions. It is not about the strokes you possess; the art is having the ability to time the ball on slower pitches. Batters who can adapt to the sluggish nature of pitches, they will be those the selectors and coaching staff pencil down.
Apart from middle-order batters, there’s stiff competition for the spot of keeper-batter. Ishan Kishan and Samson, who were not in the 2022 World Cup squad, have a lot to play for in the series. Ishan had a superb one-day series with three successive fifties. The pressure is on Samson. He is coming into his own and can consider himself unlucky to be run out from a direct hit.
It has to be taken into consideration that Samson has a tougher role. The best time to bat on a slower surface in the Caribbean is against the new ball. Hence, expectations on opening batter Ishan are higher. The Mumbai Indians keeper-batter must share the blame for India’s defeat with opening partner Shubman Gill. Both failed in the series opener, unable to come to grips with the pitch, wasting the powerplay overs. India were down to 28/2 in 4.5 overs when Ishan’s wicket fell.
How the two sides cash in on field restrictions against the harder new ball in Guyana will hold the key in Sunday’s encounter.
POORAN, THE DANGERMAN
In West Indies’ T20 game in 2022 against Bangladesh, both teams had struggled to score freely. Nicholas Pooran was an exception. After the visitors huffed and puffed to 163/5 in 20 overs, Pooran hammered a 39-ball 74 not out to take West Indies home. Fresh from his hundred in the MLC final, he is in ominous touch, having scored 41 off 34 balls in the first game. He will be the wicket to target for India.