Of spin and other turns in battle of Oval
Soon after India wrapped up their net session at the Oval on the eve of their must-win contest against South Africa on Sunday, captain Virat Kohli had a long discussion with chief selector MSK Prasad and Devang Gandhi. Going by what happened in the three-hour practice session, and what the skipper said after that, there is every chance that India will be looking to make at least one change in their playing XI. Whether it involves off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has not played a match in the tournament so far, is the lone thought the skipper has to ponder overnight.
Though most of the players selected themselves for the Champions Trophy, there were whispers that Kohli preferred leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of Ashwin, keeping the conditions in mind. Though the selectors went ahead with Ashwin, on the back of his Test credentials, Kohli, in the past, has shown a liking for leg-spinners. In his very first Test as captain, he benched Ashwin to hand debut to Karn Sharma. And in this tournament Adil Rashid, Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa — all leg-spinners — have outshone the off-spinners.
On Saturday, Ashwin bowled in tandem with Ravindra Jadeja, and most of it was to left-handers Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh. Was it a sign of him warming up for South Africa is anybody’s guess, but their top-order has the likes of Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and David Miller. Ashwin’s ability to take the ball away from them could make him a better candidate if Kohli sticks to his one-spinner theory. But what he will also keep in mind is that India will play on the placid surface where they lost against Sri Lanka. With no movement, both Jadeja and Ashwin might feature in the XI with Hardik Pandya making way.
“As I said, there are all kinds of possibilities. We definitely have looked at the last game and where we can make a bit of change. We’ve discussed those things, and yeah, I’m not going to reveal it now, but everything is possible. You can have any sort of combination,” Kohli said.
India would have liked to go into this with semifinal spot sealed, but a collective meltdown on part of the bowlers means another loss would see the defending champions out before the knockouts. Though the weather is unlikely to hamper the tie, in case of a washed-out fixture India will go through as the second-best side from Group B and will play their semifinal in Cardiff, provided the Sri-Lanka-Pakistan fixture has a winner. If not, India will head to Birmingham.
But first, they have to overcome South Africa, a side with a history of wilting under pressure in must-win matches. Maybe, that’s the edge India hold over the Proteas. In last year’s WT20, India entered the last league match needing a win against Australia, and pulled it off spectacularly despite the asking rate reaching nearly 12 an over. That and other results suggest this Indian team knows how to hold composure in key matches when their backs are against the wall.
“I think you need a good balance of being competitive, being passionate about the game, but at the same time, not getting overexcited. The team that treats the game as normal as possible is the team that’s in a better position to get the right result. A lot of times, teams come in and they want to do something special and end up messing it up in important situations. The team that with better composure will have a better chance of winning tomorrow. That’s what I’ve experienced in the past. When you tend to get overexcited, you commit errors that can cost the team important runs. If you fail to grab all the chances it can cost the team as well. I think composure will be the biggest word for tomorrow,” Kohli said.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com