India may have ended the league phase of the World Cup unbeaten, but there are a few glitches they need to iron out before taking on much stronger sides in the Super 8 stage. India’s catching has been below par, but the most glaring shortcoming has been their batters’ failure to dominate spin, a concern that has also contributed to their home Test defeats in recent years.
Two major reasons India have been bogged down by rival spinners—especially off-spinners—have been the presence of so many left-handers in the lineup and the poor form of explosive opener
Abhishek Sharma, who has registered three consecutive ducks.
So far in the tournament, India have faced 42 overs of spin, scoring 315 runs at a run rate just above seven. Spinners have already accounted for 15 Indian wickets. On Wednesday, Dutch off-spinner Aryan Dutt returned figures of 2/19 in four overs.
Thriving on some fine spells by their spinners, Associate teams like the USA and the Netherlands have given India a scare before eventually going down.
India’s assistant coach
Ryan ten Doeschate acknowledged that teams were targeting them with finger spin, particularly given that the Men in Blue have several left-handers in the lineup. The entire top three (Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma) are left-handed, while Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, and Axar Patel add to that count.
“The Dutch guys took pace off the ball a lot of the time. And obviously teams are bowling a lot of finger spin to us, with so many left-handers in our lineup. That is a challenge. It has made it easier for the opposition. We don’t have many options. We’ve got Sanju sitting on the side,” ten Doeschate said.
It is a problem area India need to address before their Super 8 opener against South Africa here on Sunday. The Proteas boast quality spin options in captain Aiden Markram, George Linde, and Keshav Maharaj.
Even West Indies and Zimbabwe—the other teams in their group—are well stocked in the spin department and pose a threat that cannot be ignored.
The Windies, as they showed in their league-stage match against England at the Wankhede Stadium, have an effective spin trio in Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, and Roston Chase. Zimbabwe’s four-pronged spin attack of Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, and Wellington Masakadza can also spring a surprise.
Ten Doeschate pointed out that it was finger spin that was troubling India’s usually aggressive batters. “I’d say finger spin (is the problem). If you take the combined figures, Pakistan bowled 14 overs of finger spin in the last game and, off the top of my head, it was something like 4/78. So it’s not a great number. Colombo was a particularly difficult wicket. The numbers against the Netherlands improved towards the back end.
But again, Dutt bowling four overs for what he did was a big challenge,” he said, adding that bigger grounds had increased India’s woes.
“I think these two venues in particular—with a bigger boundary here and obviously a slower wicket in Colombo—exaggerate that. But it’s something we’re going to have to focus on. With the amount of finger spin we’re going to get in the next three games, it’s going to be important that we dominate that phase of the game,” he added.
Ten Doeschate felt that India’s batters have also looked vulnerable because the league-stage wickets have offered some assistance to spinners. “It’s not a sudden thing. The wickets we’ve played bilateral series on over the last 18 months have been really good batting tracks. Then, as soon as you come to a wicket that offers a bit of hold, it becomes a challenge.
“So it might look like a short-term issue. On better wickets, you won’t see it—you can hit through the ball with more confidence. But the point is we need plans for wickets that do hold and where the boundaries are bigger. We need a clear game plan to deal with that threat,” he said.
Given all the talk of ‘intent’ and a ‘fearless’ approach in T20Is, India’s post-Powerplay drop in run rate has also been very surprising.
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