India kick off their T20 World Cup Super 8s campaign against South Africa later today at Ahmedabad. Despite winning all their four matches in Group A, Suryakumar Yadav‘s men were far from convincing, especially in the batting department. Yes, someone always rescued them but there is going to be a day when they may not have the rub of the green they have had so far.
More than Abhishek’s Sharma‘s three ducks, it’s actually Suryakumar and Tilak Varma‘s overly cautious batting that should worry Indian fans at the moment. Against USA in what was also India’s tournament opener, Surya played a saviour’s role, rescuing the team from a terrible situation. He exercised a lot of caution at the start before going ballistic in the last few overs. In that match he batted the right way but unfortunately that style has got stuck since.
In the rest of the matches against Namibia, Pakistan and the Netherlands, he batted very much the same way expect that he got out when he tried to cut loose. An even bigger problem is that Tilak is also playing much the same way, rather worse, scoffing a lot of balls for his runs. At no point so far in the tournament, he has looked comfortable. He appears to be really struggling.
Let’s look at the numbers. Surya so far has scored 162 runs at a strike rate of 136.13 and an average of 54. That may look respectable but it’s largely because of his innings against the USA where he scored 84 not out of just 49 balls.
Tilak’s numbers can make your heart sink. In his four games, he has scored 106 runs at an average of 26.5, and the strike rate is a lowly 120.45.
Now that big teams are going to line up in the Super 8s, India can’t afford to bat like that. Apart from South Africa, there are the high-flying West Indies and Zimbabwe in their Super 8s group, and overly defensive batting could prove to be their undoing. Zimbabwe have already beaten teams like Australia and Sri Lanka in the tournament.
Manjrekar raises concerns too
Later today they are up against one of the most destructive batting line-ups. Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Quinton de Kock and David Miller can chase down any target that India may come up with. They also also put up a very big total if they bat first. So, the co-hosts really will have come up with their top game.
Of course, they would know all this. What remains to be seen is if they can really up the ante. Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed the same concerns but he has largely focused on Surya.
“There’s something I’m seeing in Suryakumar Yadav, which I’m not liking too much. 77 for 6, India against USA at Wankhede. And Suryakumar Yadav had to change his game, which he did brilliantly. Just slowed down a little bit and then exploded and got a great score, player of the match and everything. Since then, I think he’s taking that a bit too far,” he said.
