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PlayersWest Indies expose India's T20 shortcomings ahead of NZ series
The bowlers struggled in tough conditions but there were a few other issues the team management should note
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On paper, India and West Indies shared the honours in the just-concluded T20I series, but there’s no denying who came out feeling better after the five matches.
No one gave the ICC No. 7 ranked side a chance against the No 2 ranked side at the start, but the Shai Hope-led side stretched India throughout to eke out a creditable result.
The five-match T20I series ended 2-2 after rain allowed only 7.4 overs of play in the final game in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Deep Dive
West Indies had played three previous bilateral T20I series against India in India, losing all of them and winning just one match out of seven across those series. India were the clear favourites and that is why it might feel like a series lost for the home side.
In the final game, India were forced to bring in veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar. For a 36-year-old to get back into the playing XI is a great comeback story for sure. But, is it something really to celebrate for Indian cricket? From the team’s point of view, doesn’t it show that the pace bowling cupboard is bare?
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The lack of pace bowling options is glaring. Mayank Yadav hit high speeds but he is a work in progress. After figures of 0/52 in the fourth game at Hyderabad, the team management lacked the confidence to play him in the series decider at the M Chinnaswamy ground where the boundaries are smaller.
“Well, it could have definitely been different if we had bowled well in the second and the fourth (T20I) game,” India captain Shreyas Iyer told the official broadcaster analysing the series. "Obviously, batting has been sensational throughout. It's just about that execution where we were falling short."
The India T20 side jumps straight into a series in New Zealand. They are certainly not going there with confidence.
Even when counting the positives at the end of the series after India scored 118/5 in 7.4 overs in the truncated nine-overs-a-side game, Iyer mentioned that New Zealand will be challenging. “Even today, the way we went about our batting was outstanding. I hope that we keep repeating well and it is going to be a challenging series in New Zealand now.”
In pacer-friendly conditions in New Zealand, finding batting depth is the key for teams from the sub-continent. This depth comes from good pace bowling all-rounders. Does India have good pace bowling options to lend balance to the side?
India have picked Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy for this role. In bowling the two have limited ability, they are not strike bowlers, and the team banks on them mainly to chip in with a few overs.
Their power hitting will be the key. Both are not automatic choices in the playing XI. Dube was in the team for three matches against West Indies, getting a chance to bat and bowl in only one game at Ranchi, where he struggled for timing, making a 10-ball seven while the other six who batted scored at a strike rate of 166 plus in a total of 249/5. In bowling, he had figures of 2/20 in two overs. In New Zealand, the conditions should help him fare better.
Reddy played two games: at Indore he scored a 14-ball 21 and bowled two overs for 1/19; and at his home turf, Hyderabad, he was taken apart for 39 runs in three overs while scoring 41 off 20 balls. On paper a strike rate of 205 plus looks impressive but batting at No 7 in the finisher’s role, the team expected more as they fell short in a chase of 248. The ability to find your range straightaway is crucial. Needing 92 runs from 36 balls, he was five off 5 balls. Needing 48 from 18 balls, in the 18th over, Reddy and Axar Patel could get only five runs against Shamar Springer, losing the plot. Dube and Reddy will have to play the finisher’s role in New Zealand.
It’s a highly specialised role. You need clean hitting from ball one. There’s no time to settle when the equation is 92 off 36 balls. Naman Dhir’s six-ball 24 not out on Saturday in the final T20I was an example where he started with a first-ball six and smashed a total of three sixes and one four.
Another key player under pressure is Tilak Varma, who has the challenge of adapting to the finisher’s role at No 5-6. When the rain-affected final game was reduced to nine overs-a-side, the left-handed batter was found wanting. Coming in at No 5, he just couldn’t find his timing, out for a 7-ball six.
The left-hander admitted that moving from the top-order to number five or six had been challenging, but said he was ready to embrace the role for the team.
“I have said before that I want to finish the games for the country. I love doing that job. For me as an individual, if you see, it will be easier batting at three and finishing the games,” said Varma. “But unfortunately, I should bat at five and six because we have got that combination right now. How Ishan (Kishan) is batting at number three, he is batting really brilliantly there. So, for me now, I think there is no option but to bat at five and six and do the job for the team. So, I am mentally prepared for that role. And if you see a few games, I have won from there. So, I am pretty confident to do well there as well,” Tilak said.
Playing in New Zealand will challenge all India's batters; the immediate travel leaves little time to adjust to the extra movement they are likely to encounter. Tilak said international cricketers must be mentally prepared to cope. “It will be slightly challenging. But as professional cricketers, we can’t give any excuse that back-to-back series, there are different time zones and all those things. Because we are used to it now. If you see, for any youngster coming into the team, it will be slightly challenging," said Varma.
“But again, you are playing for country and at the highest level. You should be mentally strong enough to prepare for any challenge or any condition. You should be prepared mentally."
