CHENNAI: After the early exit of India from the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, among the biggest concerns was the conservative approach from the top order. With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, India had formed a top three who took time to get their eye in before accumulating big scores, especially while batting first, in the shortest form of the game.
It was a long-overdue problem for India, which they tried to address as soon as the new team management took over. It’s no secret that they had consciously made a choice to bat aggressively in the powerplay under the realm of head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit.
In the lead-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup, they were batting at a strike rate of 141.59 in 31 innings during the first six overs. And it is not just India. Australia (140.93), England (134.5), and New Zealand (135.7) were all trying to make the most of the field restrictions. It was a well-chalked-out plan, especially for India, considering how this approach enabled them to set higher totals to chase than just par totals as they used to.
However, the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia has taken most teams by surprise, to evaluate and rethink their approach. Across venues, the new ball is moving around, troubling the batters, and with the extra bounce that some surfaces have offered, most teams have had trouble batting aggressively during the powerplay. The pacers who could swing the ball both ways are making merry.
Although three of the top five wicket-takers so far are spinners, the names of the pacers in the list tell a story. Blessing Muzarabani, Bas de Leede, Taskin Ahmed, Josh Little, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh, Paul van Meekeren, Trent Boult, and the list goes on.
In the 56 innings so far, teams have operated at an SR of 101.21 in the first six overs. Of the 349 wickets, 108 have come in the powerplay. India, in their three matches, has an SR of 83.33 and an average of 16 in that period. New Zealand (123.61) and South Africa (141.37) are the only teams that had directly made it to the Super 12s to score at an SR over 100. And the numbers are skewed thanks to the freakshows of Finn Allen (Blackcaps), Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw (South Africa) in one of their matches.
With every game, it is getting clearer that the conditions get better as the innings progress. And it is becoming easier for teams to catch up in the middle and death overs if they don’t lose too many wickets in the first half of the innings. The case in point was how India and South Africa were able to recover in the last 10 overs after the early blow in Perth on Sunday. The teams have started to realise that as well.
Ahead of the South Africa game, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour had said that it might not be a World Cup where both teams post big totals every day. “Of course playing with intent is always the goal. But then we need to keep in account the conditions that we are playing on, the surfaces we are playing on,” he said.
In fact, in the game against Ireland on Monday, Australia scored only 38/1 in the first six overs but went on to finish with 179/5. Their skipper Aaron Finch had spoken about biding time early on and taking things deep before the match. And he did exactly that, going from 29 off 25 balls to 63 off 44.
Of course, teams will have to come up with counter plans for their respective bowling attacks. However, if the trend continues, India might just have the top-order best suited for the approach.