Watching India’s batting group bat in the nets on this trip, one aspect that has stood out is how flexible they have been when it comes to preparing for the slow conditions they are facing in the middle. Across their sessions at the ICC Academy ground, they have been as random as a group can get, in terms of their approach. One moment, they are tonking the pacers and spinners out of the park; next moment they are nudging the ball here and there; then out of nowhere, they would show their imaginative side with reverse-sweeps, paddle sweeps and scoops.
In two matches they may have had a comfortable outing in the middle, but there are tough challenges that lie ahead. They are yet to be tested while batting first, where they would be forced to take a lot more risk than they are used to, in search of a good total to defend. On Sunday, with their place in the semifinals secured, India are set to face New Zealand who irrespective of when the Men in Blue bat are bound to test their batting group with a three-prone spin attack.
If one goes by their career strike-rate against spinners — Virat Kohli 92.22; Shreyas Iyer 102.29; KL Rahul 88.94; Axar Patel 96.73; Hardik Pandya 119.66 – one might wonder what the fuss is all about. But those stats don’t tell a story as a whole. These slow pitches have often been their pitfall. In Sri Lanka for example, where they faced similar conditions to what they have here in Dubai, Kohli’s strike rate dipped to 84.05. Iyer 97.43; Rahul 68.88; Axar 73.14.
Here in Dubai where there is help for bowlers right through the afternoon and evening, there hasn’t been an ideal situation to bat. Except for the openers who have been given the licence to go hard against the new ball, for the rest it has been a scrap where rotating the strike hasn’t been easy as fluency of strokes has been hard to find.
“Once those dot balls start to pile up on a batsman, obviously the pressure builds up and you have to play that big shot. And that gives the opposition and bowlers an opportunity,” KL Rahul said on match-eve. “So that has been the challenge. And we’re trying to find ways to see how we can rotate the strike a lot more. We’re all very happy hitting boundaries and scoring boundaries, but on this wicket that is very difficult. We have to make sure that the dot ball percentage is really less and then the risk that you take, the opportunities that you are going to take is suited for this type of wicket and against a certain bowler,” he added.
It is the biggest lesson India seem to have taken from Sri Lanka, where they repeatedly lost games with the bat in the middle overs chasing three totals between 230-248. With New Zealand having four finger spinners, who are all capable of tying down batsmen with their unerring accuracy, for India to keep the winning momentum going, they have to bat out of their skins in the middle-overs.
Although having four fielders outside the circle these days allows batsmen to be lot braver with their approach in the second powerplay, on these pitches India have had to do things differently. In these conditions, the fifth fielder inside the circle can be their biggest handicap as once they cut down the angles inside, finding the gaps to rotate the strike won’t be easy. With the Kiwis having a strong fielding unit that relentlessly charges at the ball, it makes it all the more challenging to score off against the spinners.
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“We have to make sure that the dot ball percentage is really less. See how we can move the fifth fielder around and that gives us the opportunity to rotate the strike. You see what suits you best — someone might like sweep and reverse sweep. Someone might like playing an aggressive shot straight down the ground or someone might like playing off the back foot,” Rahul said.
If India bat first, it could make for a fascinating match-up, as to how they go about their approach with the bat in search of scores that their spinners can defend under lights. The idea seems to be to marry their new-found approach to the old-school style, where they want to keep as many wickets as possible looking for a final flourish. That comes with its own risks for if seamers take pace off the ball, they might be hard to score off in the last 10 overs. For India to keep their winning momentum going, they’d want one of their top four to bat the distance, because with their batting depth they are more than capable of getting to par totals and beyond or to chase a par score.
“The wicket is slow. Going in, any new batter, he finds it very difficult to rotate the strike. So, we were mentally a little bit prepared. And yeah, I think on such wickets, whoever is the set batter, the longer he plays, the better it is for the team. And that’s what gives you that extra 30-40 runs. Because if the wickets keep going, the new batters will find it a bit difficult,” Rahul said.
Rohit bats at the nets
Though KL Rahul revealed that there are some fitness concerns in the camp, skipper Rohit Sharma who has been struggling with his hamstring batted for an hour in the nets. With just one day break between their match against New Zealand and semifinals, India are keeping their cards as close to the chest as possible.
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Shami likely to be rested
India are likely to bring in Arshdeep Singh for Sunday’s game particularly after Mohammed Shami struggled with his calf during the match against Pakistan. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said India want to manage the bowlers workload while hinting at changes. “If Shami or all the seamers are going to bowl 10 overs bowling second in the first game (vs NZ) and 36 hours later we are bowling first, that’s quite a lot of workload. So may be they don’t bowl their full quota of overs if that opportunity allows itself. We have had a few days off and had two tough sessions. The priority is to have our best guys available for the second game (semi-final) fully fit. But we also don’t want to rest them for another two days. So to get the balance, we might try to share the bowling a bit,” he said.
