India’s contemptible appearing New Zealand in their first warm-up game at the World Cup 2019 was 2018 England once more. A harmless batting execution, one that saw the top request self-destruct like a place of cards, broke the feeling of invulnerability encompassing the Indian group as they hence proceeded to lose by 6 wickets.
It was the annihilation as well as the horrifying way where it came about was what was a monstrous difficulty for the Indian group. They were crushed on the day, once more tumbling to the quick, swinging and skipping ball that peppered their batsmen. In a rehash of his 5-21 courageous against India from the fourth ODI in New Zealand, Trent Boult was steady, utilizing all his cleverness and duplicity to imitate one more awesome execution.
His 4-33 spell tore through the Indian line-up as well as brought into light all the glaring shortcomings which keep on staying unanswered by the group the board. In front of their last practice coordinate against Bangladesh, the Asian goliaths have one final opportunity to resolve the appropriate issues and help install a reliable condition which can take them to the apex this competition.
Here’s a glance at 2 such relevant issues:
#1 Play like 50 over game not T20 Mindset
If the prolonged Indian Premier League schedule hampered the participating players’ chances of getting the maximum time to acclimatize themselves for the World Cup, one side who suffered the most was India. They had all their squad partaking in the biggest domestic league in the world, leaving the 15-man squad with the least amount of time to get together as a unit and nail down the perfect possible combination to take them to the pinnacle at the World Cup.
What was the most discourage thing to see in India’s practice match against New Zealand was the way their batsmen to play as if it was a T20 match. Starting from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order to Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni in the middle part, they all were too impatient to find the boundary, failing to adapt themselves and craft out a 50-over innings.
#2 Who will be the second spinning slot?
While Kuldeep Yadav continued to be a bitter disappointment against New Zealand, failing to work on the areas that saw him come under heavy flak in the IPL, Ravindra Jadeja yet again established his credentials for a permanent spot in the playing XI.
Whilst Kuldeep went for 44 runs in his 8 overs, Jadeja’s restrictive line and length on the other end saw him register impressive figures of 1-27 from 7 overs.
It wasn’t just his bowling that impressed with the all-rounder showing why he takes precedent over everyone else as the finest all-rounder in the unit.
Coming in to bat when India found themselves at 81-6, Jadeja was unfazed by the proceedings at the other end. He showed determination and diligence, playing out an astounding inning of 54 to rescue India from their predicament and help the side revive their innings from a point where even 150 looked an improbable ask.
While Kuldeep and Chahal bowled extremely well in unison, the upcoming match could be the decider as to who India should go with to accompany Chahal. Another abysmal showing by Kuldeep could see him sit out and see Jadeja being accorded a well-deserved chance.