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Will batting first challenge India?
All of India's wins have come while chasing but how will they do when asked to set a total?
There are fine chasers in one-day cricket and then there’s Virat Kohli. Blessed with a razor-sharp brain that sizes up asking rates and wicket-taking threats like a supercomputer, Kohli’s playbook seldom fails in a chase. He seems to have the entire script beside him, knowing exactly when to absorb pressure, when to rotate strike and when to find that big hit.
There are attractive openers in one-day cricket and then there’s Rohit Sharma. Bowl full and he’ll slam you through the cover region for four. Bowl short – don't ever make that mistake – and he’ll pull with utter disdain. Bowl a good length and he’ll charge down the track to carve you down the ground. All of this without ever compromising on the aesthetic charm of his batting.
Put the two of them together in their current mood of belligerence, and you get the rewards India are reaping. Four games have produced four successful run chases, helping India maintain a perfect record at this World Cup.
In the two games that Sharma has crossed has half-century, Kohli has had a bit-part role. The India skipper has managed to blaze away right at the outset, either playing the ball all along the ground and piercing the gaps or simply dispatching it into the stands with remarkable poise. This is a World Cup, and Sharma seems to bask in the spotlight that this stage offers. He has scored more centuries than anybody else in this tournament. And on Thursday, he also became the top run-scorer in World Cup chases – 771 runs in 13 innings at an average of 70.09.
It seems inappropriate to talk about records in chases and not bring up Kohli’s staggering numbers. Out of 13342 runs in 285 ODIs at an average of 58, 7699 have come in 162 matches at 65.24 while chasing. In comparison, he has a tally of 5643 runs in 123 matches at 50.38 when India bat first. In successful chases, Kohli has 5691 runs at 90.33, India winning 101 of the 162 matches he’s involved in.
Kohli is different from some other great one-day chasers – MS Dhoni, Michael Bevan and Mike Hussey – in that he bats at No. 3. It helps that he’s in early to dictate the tempo of the game, but it’s also exacting to play with the pressure of the asking rate in mind for as many overs as he does. So far in this World Cup, where the required rate for India hasn’t been daunting, Kohli’s expertise was paramount against Australia. Tottering at 2/3 in a chase of 200, Kohli read the situation perfectly, soaking in all the pressure along with KL Rahul early on before counterpunching later.
Sharma’s chasing record is not as emphatic but still very impressive – he averages 50.01 in 149 matches. They’re hence primarily responsible for India’s comfort at chasing. As data by CricViz testifies, India have a win percentage of 66.6 in 33 ODIs while batting second since 2019 – the best of all the World Cup teams. The corresponding number while setting a target is 58 in 31 ODIs.
Shubman Gill, sandwiched between Sharma and Kohli in the batting order, is learning the tricks of the trade from the best in the business. “I mean, you can see how confident they are, the way they are scoring runs. I think having won all the four matches while chasing, I think it's a great way to have that momentum with us in those big games that we'll have moving forward,” Gill said on Thursday.
It’s worth noting that India have won only one out of four tosses, against Pakistan in Ahmedabad. They chose to chase and won, but the decision to bat second in the other games wasn’t their call. Not that they may have chosen otherwise. Of the 39 instances of India winning the toss since 2019, they have batted second 21 times. It signifies a slight preference for chasing that should continue at this World Cup, especially given all of their matches are day-night affairs.
But if India are to be an all-conquering unit ready for that knockout occasion, it’s imperative that they are equally comfortable batting first. The challenge is twofold. For batters, it’s about gauging a par total on a particular surface and pacing their innings accordingly. In the recent past, Kohli has had some trouble finding the right tempo while setting a target.
“If you're chasing you know the target you're going after. You know what pace to bat, how many runs you have to get in an over. But when you are batting first, you want to set a target as big as you can, and at the same time you have to remember you're the set batter and you shouldn't be throwing your wicket away and things like that. A lot of things creep in when you bat first,” Sharma had said sometime back.
For bowlers, it’s about familiarising themselves with the pressure of defending a total. With dew an unavoidable factor, it’s also important for the Indian spinners to know how much of a hindrance a wet ball under lights will be. Never mind Kuldeep Yadav’s uninhibited confidence about the challenge of bowling second.
“My bowling under lights is very good. I always want us to bat first and for me to bowl in the second innings. I enjoy that. Rohit bhai doesn’t listen to me,” he said after the Pakistan game. “It’s about seeing the conditions. But I am very comfortable bowling second as well. You want to win every game in the World Cup, the conditions matter. Dew is a big factor. The ball comes onto the bat. So, for the batters it is easier (batting second).”
