File image of India’s Virat Kohli attending a practice session during the ICC Champions Trophy at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. (AP Photo)
After a well earned two-day break, India returned to the training fold at the ICC Academy grounds on Wednesday. With their semi-final spot confirmed, their third match against New Zealand may not be a must-win fixture, but it will no doubt be the first stiff challenge they face.
With the Black Caps having a rounded attack to suit the conditions in Dubai, India will have their task cut out on Sunday. The conditions, which have been on the slower side in the two matches, are expected to slow further. Soon after India completed their win over Pakistan, the groundstaff immediately watered the entire square. With at least two matches to come in the space of three days, it is understood that fresh pitches will be used for the two matches with the centre strip being kept aside for the final (should it happen here).
With adequate watering and one week gap, India believe there is a good chance for the pitches to retain its same characteristics as one saw against Bangladesh and Pakistan. New Zealand with its three-prone spin attack that includes skipper Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips will pose all sorts of questions to this Indian batting line-up that has struggled off-late against tweakers in similar conditions. New Zealand after all had inflicted plenty of wounds to this team, which they would like to reopen.
At their three-hour net session on a chilly evening, their planning revolved around the matchups they will confront on Sunday. Apart from Shubman Gill who didn’t turn up and skipper Rohit Sharma, who didn’t bat, the rest of the batting line-up had an extensive outing.
Gameplan vs spinners
Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel displayed contrasting approaches to tackle spin at the nets. For instance, Shreyas and Axar who have been alternating at No 4, showed the intent to go on the offensive straightaway. Scoring in the middle-overs hasn’t been easy against spinners and with Santner and Bracewell being in good rhythm, Shreyas and Axar went about charging Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy. Even Washington Sundar, who hasn’t played a game so far — but could come in should India tweak their option as New Zealand has three left-handers in the top 5 – followed a similar approach.
Kohli, on the other hand, started off by facing the seamers Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana , against whom he was seen playing aggressive shots. But the moment he switched to the nets where the spinners were operating, he predominantly played the angles using the nudges and wrists. Against Pakistan, in the middle-overs, it was his running between the wickets – 13×2 and 46×1 – that kept the scoreboard ticking. He nurdled Jadeja late behind the square while ensuring he wasn’t closing the bat face soon. Later on, he used the wrists to hit the spinners towards the cow-corner. But it also led to him mistiming a few and missing it as playing across the line against spinners has been his biggest undoing off late.
The power-hitters
Beyond the trio are KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, the two India bet on to provide the final flourish when batting first. At the nets, they switched between facing the spinners and seamers. But with both of them one aspect stood out – unless the deliveries were short, they mostly tried to go in the V, a safe bet in any conditions. And when they did so, they repeatedly cleared the huge boundaries with minimum effort against both the spinners and seamers.
Story continues below this ad
Even Harshit Rana, who followed them at the nets, indulged in some power-hitting with the pacer muscling a couple of big hits that went the distance.
Sweeps and reverse-sweeps
It may not be the go-to shot for most of the current Indian batsmen, but over here the likes of Kohli, Shreyas, Axar and Rahul repeatedly brought it out. During the tour to Sri Lanka, where they hardly employed the sweep, India struggled to release the pressure when spinners operated and ended up playing high-risk shots that brought about their downfall. So over here, apart from Rahul and Axar who struck to the conventional sweep, others deployed the paddle-sweep and the slog-sweep to good effect. And every now and then, a reverse sweep will come out indicating their preparedness for the Kiwi challenge.
