ROSE BOWL: In A long tournament where teams play nine games each before the semifinalists are separated from the also-rans, it’s likely that even the favourites will have bad days. There is no West Indies of the seventies or Australia of the last decade, who would sweep everything on way to winning the World Cup. Such one-sided domination is not seen these days.
Looking back at what happened on Saturday at Rose Bowl on their way to Manchester for the next match, the Indian team would like to think it was one of those not-so-memorable days. Having comfortably got past South Africa, Australia and Pakistan, Afghanistan was supposed to be an easy match. They had been the worst team of the competition without a doubt. If the struggle of the title contenders against them was an unexpected sight, it was also a reminder that this game has retained this naughty habit of springing surprises making short work of predictions.
“They have improved by playing in the IPL. As a team Afghanistan may not be very experienced, but they have players who can compete with the best.” Parts of the stands were abuzz with talks like this, when Afghanistan’s assortment of spinners choked India’s progress in the middle overs by striking at regular intervals.
“But we have Dhoni and Pandya. They will take us past 250 at least,” said the optimists. “Can’t believe this. It won’t be enough,” was the cry after Indian settled for 224/8.
It was a combination of disciplined bowling on a slow pitch and undisciplined batting that let the Indians down after Virat Kohli elected to bat. KL Rahul’s was the most glaring error, which stood out for the way the batsman attempted a reverse sweep after doing the initial hard work and settling down. It’s a shot played worldwide, which involves the risk of being dubbed silly if it doesn’t come off.
Showing signs of getting rid of inner demons in the previous match, Rahul made sure that he goes back under scrutiny. It unsettled the innings at a time when the skipper was in total control.This led to a phase that was always going to be testing for this Indian team. Two down for not too many is a situation that the team didn’t face in the last two games. So even though the opposition was unfancied, Vijay Shankar at No 4 was facing a new challenge.
Unaccustomed to the role of occupying a specialist batsman’s position at this level, he started well and kept Kohli company in a partnership of 58 runs. But just as it seemed the two were guiding India towards safety, Vijay paid the price of trying to sweep a delivery that was in line.It was at this stage that the IPL experience of the Afghanistan spinners came to the fore. In Rashid Khan, Mujib Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, they have variety ranging from off-breaks, leg-breaks, googlies, straighter ones, even the disguised cutters.
To their credit, they concentrated on hitting right areas instead of experimenting too hard. The strategy worked as India’s batsmen were forced to trying things that didn’t click. If the slowness of the surface helped Afghanistan’s gameplan, they showed the temperament to exploit it.
Ironically for India, the specialist batsman who was pushed lower down the order was the one who ensured that the bowlers had something to defend. Despite overs remaining, Kedar Jadhav was sent in after Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was neither here nor there during his 52-ball 28. He was stepping out as soon as the spinners started running in, but didn’t manage more than an innocuous dab most of the times. His inability to take singles slowed things down at a stage when the team was expecting to step on the accelerator. Jadhav made most of the opportunity by compiling a half-century, losing partners almost throughout during his stay at the middle.