There will be no dearth of support for Team India in the New York leg of their T20 World Cup campaign. But will the conditions — the pitch specifically — support their plans and strategies? That’s the big question for India ahead of their tournament opener against Ireland on Wednesday.
The Indians had a taste of the pitch at the Nassau County International Stadium during their warm-up game against Bangladesh last Saturday. The surface appeared two-paced with spongy bounce and, at times, the ball barely came onto the bat.
Even in Monday’s game, Sri Lanka were able to stretch South Africa in spite of defending a paltry 77. The Proteas took more than 16 overs to get those runs, losing four wickets.
Of course, compared to Sri Lanka, who have been struggling at the international stage for the last seven years or so, India have a far more potent batting line-up which is richer when it comes to technique, strokeplay and overall skills.
Having said that, how they adjust and how quickly they come to terms with this New York pitch will be equally important.
Rahul Dravid, in his final assignment as the India head coach, must have spoken to the players about the need to keep the IPL completely away from their minds.
Particularly the bit about those pitches where even totals close to 300 were possible. That’s not going to be the case in this ICC event. Coming back to this New York track, it has a fair bit to offer to the bowlers if they bowl the right lengths, which the Indian bowlers too had found out during their warm-up game.
Bowling-wise, India don’t seem to be having too much to think about as whatever attack they field, it has the wherewithal to pose problems for Ireland, who aren’t counted amongst the stronger teams. But it’s the batting order that India need to be careful about. If they bat first, the task could well be tougher on that wicket.
During Tuesday’s practice at the Cantiague Park, a training facilitly that’s five miles away from the main stadium, Yashasvi Jaiswal also had his time out with the bat at nets along with the rest. But whether he will be a part of the XI is tough to say as there is a possibility of Virat Kohli opening alongside skipper Rohit.
So, who goes in at Nos. 3 and 4? India have both Suryakumar Yadav and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant as options.
All-rounders Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are expected to fill in the remaining slots in the XI, with left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and quicks Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh likely to be the specialist bowlers.
