RECAP: All India's T20 World Cup Games

T20 World Cup, 1st match - India vs Ireland  

Venue: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. And we’re back with cricket reviews after two months off for the IPL!! Unfortunately, the deck in New York that awaited our return to international cricket was incredibly challenging, and, as Andy Flower described it, borderline dangerous. Firstly, in terms of the pitch itself, having been shipped in from Australia and incubated elsewhere before being embedded into the ground at the stadium, the surface resembled one from Perth or Cape Town (it looked almost identical to what we faced in the low-scoring shootout against South Africa at the start of the year). There were massive, wide cracks along the surface, tell-tale signs of variable bounce and sideways movement of the seam. Moreover, as we saw in the warm-up game against Bangladesh, the track was often two-paced, offering a mixture of spitting bounce, shooters, and deliveries that stuck in the surface and had a spongier bounce. The pitch definitely promised to assist seamers more than spinners, forming the rationale behind our selection of Bumrah, Arshdeep and Siraj along with the two fast-bowling allrounders in Hardik and Dube. To add to the misery for the batsmen, the outfield is sand-based and extremely slow, making it difficult for ground shots to reach the boundary and causing aerial shots to plug rather than skid to the fence. 

Match summary (quantitative):  

Ireland - 96 (16) 

India - 97/2 (12.2)  

Result: India won by 8 wickets 

Match summary (qualitative): Taking advantage of the conditions (both on the ground and overhead in the presence of overcast skies), Rohit chose to bowl first upon winning the toss. Arshdeep opened with the new ball and immediately caused problems, with the Ireland openers struggling to lay bat on ball. Eventually, the pressure caused the opposition captain, Paul Stirling, to go for an agricultural hoick across the line and against Arshdeep’s natural angle as a left-hander bowling from over the wicket, resulting in a top edge that was safely held by Pant tracking back from behind the stumps. Soon after, Balbirnie was dismissed after having backed away and exposed his stumps to a straight delivery from Arshdeep. His shot was rather poor and low percentage, presenting an angled bat while looking to run the ball down to third man in response to a delivery at his stumps. India’s other seamers backed up this brilliant start, keeping their cool in conditions that favoured them. Bumrah and Hardik were particularly adept at exploiting the conditions (Hardik with swing and seam and Bumrah with bounce), while Siraj and Axar supported the frontline bowlers by maintaining a miserly economy. At one point, Ireland were 49-7 before Gareth Delany struck some lusty blows with the tail (namely Josh Little) to give Ireland a total that was competitive on a pitch as challenging as this. India would have been slightly disappointed to not close out the innings slightly earlier! Luckily, India had two test batting stalwarts to handle the difficult conditions, with Rohit Sharma partnering Virat Kohli at the top of a T20 innings for only the second time ever (what an iconic moment!). Despite Virat getting out fairly quickly, looking to play with aggression and intent and getting caught at Third man of the top edge of his slash after advancing, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant steered India home. Both batsmen played their shots despite the treacherous pitch, with Rohit in particular enjoying some luck (see below), but, despite getting hit repeatedly and in spite of Rohit retiring hurt and Surya losing his wicket, the batters saw India home, with Pant finishing the game in trademark fashion with a reverse-scooped six over the sightscreen. 

Star performers:  

• Arshdeep Singh - 2-35  

• Hardik Pandya - 3-27 

• Jasprit Bumrah - 2-6 

• Rohit Sharma - 52* (37) 

• Rishabh Pant - 36* (26)  

Notes on star performers: As previously discussed, Arshdeep got us off to a wonderful start, bowling with zip and rhythm and extracting lateral movement in the air. While he was a bit expensive towards the latter part of his spell, he got the 2 crucial wickets of Ireland’s kingpins, Balbirnie and Stirling (their two most experienced and arguably their best batsmen). He bowled three straight overs in the powerplay, showing that Rohit Sharma was not averse to taking bold decisions as our captain. While he struggled to control the swing in his third over and went for several extras, his performance in the first match (backing up his supreme show in the warm-up) bodes well for our next few games. Hardik Pandya also bowled superbly in the powerplay, taking 3 wickets and hardly giving any runs initially, before Campher and Delany dented his figures slightly. His first wicket was by far his best, with the ball pitching around fourth stump and decking back in past Tucker’s attempted drive on the up and castling him through the gate, pegging middle stump back. This was followed by a test match style dismissal of Campher, nicking him off on a fifth stump line, and some good bowling to the lower order, with a short ball dug in and outside off being spooned to deep point by the tailender Mark Adair. Jasprit Bumrah was superlative, as usual! Despite not taking any wickets, his first over was exemplary. It was a maiden where Harry Tector could not lay bat on ball - it was almost as if we were playing a test match! Bumrah managed to seam the ball both ways and was extremely accurate with his length and his change-ups. His dismissal of Tector was arguably the ball of the match - a pinpoint bouncer that clipped his glove before pinging the batter on the helmet and lobbing to Kohli, who accepted it at cover. He was also at his strategic best, as evidenced by his searing low full-toss to clean up Josh Little after he had struck us for some boundaries (the best ball against a tailender backing away), and was miserly, deservingly picking up the player of the match award. 

In the second innings, India were in dire need of some experience, temperament and an impenetrable, test match quality technique to see out the chase on an incredibly difficult deck that hadn’t eased out at all. Rohit Sharma fit this bill perfectly, and, while he did enjoy some luck through an outside edge on a cut shot that burst past second slip for 4 and an inside edge off a wide yorker that shot past leg stump and trickled into the fence, he played to the mandate of staying fearless and took the bowling on, capitalising on any errors. His three sixes all came off seam, including a full toss that was dumped unceremoniously over long on, and two back-to-back pull shots of Josh Little for sixes (one dragged from a wider line over square leg, another swivelled slightly finer). His slice over backward point showed his skill, and he got to a fifty by hoicking a pull shot through mid-wicket. While Rohit’s timing wasn’t at its best and he enjoyed luck, it was a true captain’s knock to stick it through and take India close to home. He was struck on the shoulder by a ball that reared up, and had to retire hurt. While Rishabh Pant was also struck, he played a chanceless knock, playing increasingly extravagant shots as he grew in confidence. The reverse lap to finish the game was by far the most audacious! 

Surround sound: The surround sound after the game was all about the pitch, and whether it is up to the standard that the occasion demands, especially given that the next game is the marquee encounter between India and Pakistan. With several batsmen, like Rohit and Rishabh, getting struck, people were appalled by the extent with which the odds were stacked against the batters, and many felt the pitch was dangerous. Here is an article discussing the issue:

Venue: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. With everyone taking notice of how the surfaces at this ground had played out across previous matches (see the above ‘venue’ section for reference), there was trepidation over whether it would contribute to a blowout in the much anticipated marquee contest (oh, how wrong everyone was!). In a desperate effort to remedy the pitch, the curators stripped the playing surface of all grass and subjected it to a heavy roller, intending to flatten out the turf and make it more conducive to run-scoring. While the high clay percentage in the soil and deep cracks still contributed to assistance for the seamers, it was not completely unplayable, and, in fact, offered a decent balance between bat and ball (leaning towards the bowlers), allowing for a thrilling encounter to play out. 

Match summary (quantitative):  

India - 119 (19) 

Pakistan 113/7 (20) 

Result: India won by 6 runs 

Match summary (qualitative): Oh, where do I start. What a game. A game for the history books. I just want to make a note that it is currently 4:41 Am in Singapore. Who cares. Let’s do this chronologically. The match was delayed extensively by rain, with heavy clouds settling above the ground and the pitch absorbing moisture. Either side of a rain break, Rohit and Pant got us off to a brisk start, but Virat and Rohit lost their wickets to Naseem and Shaheen respectively. Virat was caught at point of an away-swinger, reaching out at an extremely wide delivery, and Rohit toe-ended his aerial flick down deep square leg’s throat. Pant and Axar Patel (who had been promoted) counterattacked to keep India on track to post a par-plus score by the halfway mark, but Axar threw his wicket away by exposing all his stumps, and Surya soon mistimed Haris Rauf to mid off. At 89-4, India were in a decent position to steer the innings to 160 or thereabouts, before our batting completely imploded. Dube and Jadeja played too early, popping catches to ring fielders, Pant only got elevation on a chip to mid-on, and Pandya creamed a flick to deep square leg. Arshdeep and Siraj pinched twos and extra runs through overthrows before Arshdeep was finally run out with the score on 119. 

India needed early inroads to get back into the game and make Pakistan’s chase difficult, but Babar and Rizwan took the sting out of the chase in the first 4 overs with some well placed drives and solid defense. The only opportunity was grassed, with Rizwan helping Bumrah down to Dube at fine leg, who dropped a sitter. But Bumrah extracted the prized scalp of Babar and the bowlers tied down Rizwan brilliantly to keep India in the contest. Through the middle overs, Rizwan and Usman Khan never really got away, until Axar pinned Usman LBW just after the drinks break. Fakhar threatened to take the game away before Pandya removed him, and India clawed their way back through the timely dismissals of Rizwan and Shadab, and the tying down of Imad and Ifthikar. Eventually, Naseem Shah’s late blows were not enough to haul Pakistan over the line, and India completed a defence for the ages. 

Star performers: 

• Rishabh Pant - 42 (31) 

• Jasprit Bumrah - 0 (1) & 3-14 

• Hardik Pandya - 7 (12) & 2-24 

Notes on star performers: Firstly, with our batting, Rishabh Pant almost single-handedly dragged us to a decent score. It was almost as if all of the luck that he had accumulated from his knock in the first innings helped him out in this one - he frequently edged balls, missed audacious sweeps and reverse sweeps that shaved the stumps, and skied balls that landed perilously close to the fingertips of Pakistani fielders. However, between all of this, he hit some spectacular shots that kept our run rate high, and managed to stitch together a critical partnership with Axar Patel. After being dropped off the leading edge of a flick shot that soared over the cover point fielder (who had to turn around, run back, and dive), he took chances of the spinners, even if it meant he had to clear the longer boundary. He regularly targeted the boundaries behind square with unorthodox shots, which proved to be a successful method. A particularly interesting shot was when he played a flick shot with his back leg lifting off the ground like a flamingo, with the ball virtually coming off the back of his bat and flying over the lone slip for a 4 to third man! 

While I have only selected Hardik and Bumrah as the star performers for this match, I feel our entire bowling attack worked beautifully together, with each individual playing their part as a key cog of the machine and deserving a mention. Siraj and Arshdeep started brilliantly with the new ball, keeping it tight and bowling accurately. At one point, Siraj had only given 9 runs in 3 overs! While Arshdeep was not as economical, he came back to defend 18 runs in the last over, with an in-form hitter in Shaheen Afridi at the crease. Arshdeep bowled some brilliant death-bowling deliveries, with his tailing, in-swinging yorker that followed Imad Wasim and caught his inside edge on the way through to Pant (who took a superb diving catch) being the highlight. He was incredibly accurate in that final over and executed his skills wonderfully. Alongside Bumrah and Hardik, Jadeja and Axar tied up Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan with their pop-gun style of spin bowling. Jadeja in particular was ripping balls past Rizwan’s edge, and didn’t let Pakistan get away. Axar struck with the first ball after the drinks break with a slider that trapped Usman Khan plumb in front of the stumps. This was a crucial wicket, as, at this point Pakistan were 57-1 and were well on their way to overhauling our target. Axar’s angles and release points, along with the lack of spin due to his flying saucer seam position, regularly cramped the righties for room and also meant the ball skidded past the lefties. An example of this was the crucial 16th over he bowled to Imad Wasim, arguably the turning point of the match, where he pushed 3 balls past Imad’s cuts and late cuts at a time where dots were gold dust. Rohit marshalled his bowlers wonderfully, and each one backed him up with their performance. 

After looking like the weak link of our attack and the man that Pakistan would potentially target, Hardik Pandya managed to wrestle back the momentum in his last 2 overs by targeting a consistent length and hustling the batsmen with his surprising pace and effort balls. He bowled short and back of the length and did not give the Pakistani batsmen the time or the room to clear the ropes off his bowling, and he had the protection of the longer boundaries and deep fielders at hot spots. His dismissal of Fakhar Zaman, the one man who looked like he could break the back of this game for Pakistan, was a huge moment in the game. Fakhar charged Hardik, who shortened his length and got an extra kick from the spicy New York Pitch, causing Fakhar to glove it behind to Pant, who did an amazing job to run back and track the ball, all the while hopping and diving over his helmet on the floor to avoid 5 penalty runs! His second dismissal of Pakistan’s in-form finisher, Shadab, came off a short delivery that hustled through to the batsman, who spliced it straight up for Pant to receive a simple catch. However, India’s strike bowler was undisputably Jasprit Bumrah. The entire game hinged around his 4 overs, even when he was not bowling, and Rohit gave him two upfront (to give us the best chance of grabbing an early inroad), one through the middle, and one at the end. His first over saw a chance of Rizwan, before Babar hit him for four, and it looked like the luck was not on his side. But he struck with his next ball with a test match style delivery that zipped through outside off, opening up Babar completely and leaving him in two minds regarding whether to leave or to play. In the end, he did neither, and the ball caught his outside edge and flew low to Surya, standing at a deep slip, who dove forward and barely got his finger tips under the ball. Bumrah mentioned in the post-match interview that, while there were overcast conditions for India’s innings, the conditions were easier for Pakistan with the sun out, and there was less lateral movement available. He assessed this and bowled accurately and on a stump-to-stump line, bowling 15 dot balls in his 4 overs. Eventually, this accuracy paid off when he then came back for his third over, and dismissed Rizwan, the lynchpin of Pakistan’s resistance, with a length ball on middle and off that kept slightly low. He also bowled the high-pressure penultimate over with accurate low full-tosses (a new weapon in his armoury) mixed with slowies and length balls. The highlights were a slower bouncer that dipped below the batsmen’s head as he left it, completely foxing him, and a low full toss that Ifthikar skied to Arshdeep in the deep (who took it after almost colliding with Surya). To perform like that when the stakes were as high as they were, the margin of error was so little, and when he had to bowl in all 3 phases of the game and juggle several demands of the team, was commendable. He was the clear difference between the 2 sides.

T20 World Cup 3rd Match - India vs USA 

Venue: Nassau County International Stadium, New York. Over the 8 matches that have been played here (the last few in quick succession), the pitch resembles a crumbling, cracking surface akin to day 5 of a test match in India. As a result, while there is still enough juice and assistance for the fast bowlers, the frequency of balls keeping low have also increased. In other words, the pitch continues to find new ways of being an absolute nightmare! Thankfully, this is our last game here, and, after this tournament, they are dismantling it. 

Match summary (quantitative): 
 
USA - 110/8 (20) 

India - 111/3 (18.2) 

Result: India won by 7 wickets 

Match summary (qualitative): This was far from a convincing performance from India (from both the batting and bowling departments), and there was a genuine scare in the middle, before SKY and Dube saved our blushes. With ball in hand, Arshdeep was incisive in the powerplay (as he was against Ireland), striking with the very first ball of the match to remove Shayan (!) Jahangir and getting the key wicket of Gous shortly after. Our seamers supported him ably to restrict USA to around 20/2 after 7, and then Hardik Pandya removed USA’s main threat, Aaron Jones (the stand-in captain of the day), with a searing short ball that hustled the batsman (a delivery that is slowly becoming his trademark). However, we then let it slip, allowing Nitish Kumar and Steven Taylor to rebuild, and then, later, provide some impetus to the innings. At one point, USA were 80/4 after 14 overs, looking on track to post something competitive. Thankfully, Arshdeep and Hardik came back to dismiss Nitish Kumar (aided by an outstanding catch in the deep by Siraj, allowing him to become the unlikely recipient of the coveted Fielder of the Match medal) and Corey Anderson respectively, stunting America’s progress. Eventually, they limped to 110, which was still a challenging total on a pitch with variable bounce, sideways movement, and carry (not to mention the massive, slow outfield).  

India started abhorrently, losing Virat Kohli for a golden duck (fiddling at a ball that he had no business playing) and Rohit Sharma in the next over (closing the bat face on a flick, sending the ball looping to mid off). Rishabh Pant and SKY tried to rebuild, before Pant, our in-form batsman, fell to a shooter he could do virtually nothing about. SKY and Dube looked to see off this tumultuous period, but soon found themselves stuck in a rut, unable to hit it off the square. The boundaries had completely dried up, and they were barely eking out singles. It got a point where India needed 51 off 40 balls, a mammoth task on this pitch…one could even argue that, at this moment, USA were favourites! But SKY and Dube found a way to break the shackles, and, aided by a 5 run penalty, and a flurry of strokes from Surya at the end, got India over the line comfortably enough at the end. 

Star performers: 

• Arshdeep Singh - 4-9 

• Hardik Pandya - 2-14 

• Suryakumar Yadav - 50* (49) 

• Shivam Dube - 0-11 and 31* (35) 

Notes on star performers: In a match where our main strike bowlers (Siraj and Bumrah) were having a rare off day, it was crucial for our other bowlers to provide a superlative performance. Arshdeep stood up for the team with an amazing new ball spell, capped off by some wonderful death bowling. His first delivery was a classic left-arm over dismissal, swinging the ball back in from around off-stump and catching the batsman plumb in front. In the next over, he slanted one across (the next weapon for a bowler of his type) at a slightly shorter length and induced a mistimed pull that Pandya ran across and caught from mid-off. He came back in the death to prise out the key wicket of Nitish Kumar, although this one was more thanks to Siraj’s brilliant catch, diving back and over his head while patrolling the deep square leg boundary. These catches either stick or they don’t! He then bowled another steepling short delivery to catch the top edge off Harmeet Singh’s bat through to Pant. Arshdeep’s variety demonstrated his versatility on different tracks and ability to bowl in different scenarios, something that will help us as we travel a lot in the next stage of the tournament. His ability to weaponise the short ball was particularly impressive to see, and was backed up by another solid bowling performance by Pandya. He has clearly found his rhythm, and was extremely accurate today, avoiding any release of the pressure through loose deliveries and mixing up pinpoint yorkers with his head-hunting bouncers. The latter brought him his first wicket, with his natural angle causing the ball to follow Aaron Jones as he looked to hook Hardik. With some help from the pitch, Pandya managed to get the ball up around Jones’ badge, making it difficult to control, leading to a top edge caught at fine leg (a textbook dismissal that captain’s plan for as the desired result of a spell of short-bowling). He also showed that, while he may not have the death bowling skills of our other seamers, he has the smarts - when Corey Anderson (a huge danger at the back-end of a T20 innings) charged him prematurely, he quickly shortened his length, digging the ball in on a line outside leg stump but at Anderson’s body, causing him to only get the elevation and not the distance. The ball was launched high into the New York sky, only to come hurtling down into Rishabh Pant’s outstretched hands around square leg. Pant’s agility, game awareness and skill as a keeper was once again on display.

As far as our batters are concerned, I struggled to find our second star performer in what was an extremely paltry performance overall. However, one man batted out of his skin to save the day and get us over the line. SKY’s uncharacteristically restrained knock displayed his tremendous temperament and experience, as he shelved his trademark shots and guided India through the chase. While initially looking to be more expansive when batting with Pant (he stamped his authority with a typical SKY-scoop over fine leg), he batted patiently with Dube after Pant was dismissed, realising he was the key for the team. After being out of form, he was under severe criticism and pressure, and doggedly camped on the backfoot and prodded deliveries into the offside. While he looked tentative at times, he soon began to rotate more easily, especially off the spinners, where he brought his wrists into play to milk singles down to long-on or deep midwicket. Eventually, towards the end of the innings, signs of his old flamboyant self began to show, with a regal lofted shot that floated majestically over the long-off boundary, and another classic whisk over fine leg. Hopefully this knock, taming the wild New York pitch, gets him back into form for the next few games! I have selected Dube as a star performer, as he hung around as an able ally to partner Surya. However, he never looked set and scratchily plodded along, so I won’t say much about him!! 

T20 World Cup 5th Match - India vs Afghanistan  

Venue: Kensington Oval, Barbados. We begin the next stage of the tournament by facing Afghanistan, a team that has dominated their group and has coasted through to the super 8s. India, on the other hand, haven’t played in the last 8 days and have not had a single match in the West Indies. The conditions at Barbados were extremely different to New York (probably for the best!): the surface was slow, with the ball holding up in the surface and the spinners getting grip and turn, and there was little lateral movement for the seamers. However, run-scoring was still difficult because of the sticky nature of the wicket along with the heavy crosswinds blowing across the ground, making it effectively impossible to clear one side of the wicket at any time. Rohit won a crucial toss, electing to bat first on a pitch that would likely grow slower as the day wore on. 

Match summary (quantitative): 
 
India - 181/8 (20) 

Afghanistan - 134 (20) 

Result: India won by 47 runs  

Match summary (qualitative): After electing to bat first, India started poorly, with Rohit and Virat struggling to come to terms with Farooqi in particular (the current leading wicket-taker of the tournament), who exploited the new ball and made use of whatever little lateral movement there was on offer. Rohit in particular struggled for timing on the slow wicket, and soon got out skying a slower ball of Farooqi. Virat looked to get set, playing himself in alongside Pant, until both of them were dismissed in quick succession off the spinners (Kohli lofting one to long off and Pant missing a reverse sweep), leaving us struggling at 62-3 in 8.3. Dube was unable to get going, but Surya wrested back the momentum from the Afghani spinners, sweeping them with disdain and using his wrists to combat the loopy, slow turn and variations of length from both Noor and Rashid. He backed his muscle and power over his usual pyrotechnics against the pacers, launching them over the sightscreen and over long-on. Once Dube was dismissed, Pandya provided SKY ample support, showing glimpses of his prime as a finisher, clearing the ropes at will against spinners. After Surya and Pandya were dismissed, once again in quick succession, soon followed by Jadeja, Axar Patel ensured that India batted through and were able to maximise their score in the last over by sticking around with the tail and playing cleverly, securing some vital runs. Overall, the batting performance, particularly from the top order, was mildly worrying - we have reached a point where Rohit and Virat are both seriously due a score, and we cannot depend on Surya, Pant and the rest of the middle order to bail us out each time. However, we got the job done!  
 
In the second innings, Arshdeep’s first over was taken apart by Gurbaz, but Rohit quickly turned to his strike bowler Bumrah, who outfoxed the rampant opener and, in his second over, bamboozled Hazratullar Zazai. Axar Patel continued his great bowling form in the powerplay, bowling a wicket maiden in the fourth over, and the other two spinners joined Axar in constricting the Afghani batsmen and denying them any room to breathe. It was a typical Indian defense, punctuated by a chokehold from our spinners that was preceded by early strikes, and, soon, the asking rate was rising to insurmountable proportions. This led to some rash shots from the Afghanistani batsmen, giving Kuldeep a couple of wickets and Jadeja one, and then Bumrah and Arshdeep returned to clean up the tail and bowl Afghanistan out. Special mentions to Rohit, Pant, and Jadeja for catching well in the hot spots. The bowling performance was, once again, clinical…now for Rohit and Virat to come to the party! 

Star Performers:  

• Suryakumar Yadav - 53 (28) 

• Axar Patel - 12 (6) & 1-15 

• Jasprit Bumrah - 3-7 

Notes on star performers: Suryakumar Yadav’s knock was reminiscent of his trademark impetus-stealing masterclasses that we have gotten so used to (but haven’t seen any of this year). He came in during a difficult period, when India’s innings seemed to be stalling after some serious setbacks. While other batsmen would have been forced to soak up dot balls and start slowly against the Afghani spinners (evidenced by Hardik Pandya’s innings later), Surya began in his inimitable, free-flowing style, collecting early boundaries and building rhythm. In accordance with a strategy that he has honed in the IPL, SKY dominated his critical match up with Rashid Khan (who has never dismissed him to date, but had already dismissed Pant and Kohli), sweeping him almost every ball. Using his wrists and feet position, Surya maneouvred the ball around the arc between deep midwicket and fine leg, avoiding deep fielders and peppering the boundary at will. He played both aerially and along the ground, and used a mixture of fine sweeps (where he got across the ball), square sweeps, and one slog sweep for six (where he gave himself the room to power his hands through the ball). Against the pacers, Surya chose to hang on the backfoot and wait for the ball before launching deliveries hard and straight (in the V) with a high elbow. He hit Omarzal for a tremendous six that cannoned into the sightscreen, and, after these lofted drives, he held his pose for the photographers, reminding viewers of that knock of 117 against England. However, by far his most brilliant shot came against Omarzai - Surya reached across for a pre-meditated sweep, and Omarzai responded by moving the ball wider and bowling it fuller. Surya doubled his stride and reached out, whipping the lower full-toss from beyond the wide line square and flat for 4 through square leg. His wrists whipped through the ball like a snake, turning an impossibility into a reality, as only he can.  

While some might wonder why I included Axar Patel as a star performer and not Pandya (32 in 24), I felt that Axar’s all-round performance and impactful innings was vital in making the difference in the end. He kept his cool with the bat and did not slog blindly when left with the tail. He hit the gaps and played a very clever shot over third man to get us over 180. Furthermore, with the ball, he got Ibrahim Zadran’s wicket to deny Afghanistan a good start, and completely halted their progress with a maiden.  

However, in terms of the bowling, Jasprit Bumrah, our strike bowler, spearheaded the attack wonderfully. I was curious to see how he would cope in the West Indies, where tracks are less amenable to his craft, and with one fewer support seamer, but he shouldered the additional responsibility effortlessly and understood the conditions brilliantly to come out on top once again. Noticing the slowness of the deck, he dug into his repertoire and predominantly bowled offcutters. His dismissal of Gurbaz was classy; noticing that Gurbaz was looking to start aggressively (as he had attacked Arshdeep), Bumrah hid the first ball wide and bowled a loopy offcutter on a full length. This change of pace and wide line completely deceived Gurbaz, who had already given himself room, and he was forced to reach out away from his body, only managing a top edge off his flailing drive through to Pant. Against the left-hander, Bumrah once again deployed his offcutter, this time extracting grip and turn across Zazai from a leg stump line. This, along with the lack of pace, induced a leading edge on the flick, which floated to Jadeja at point. Bumrah was also miserly as usual, regularly outfoxing batsmen with his variations and test-match accuracy. As the icing on the cake, he came back at the death to dismiss Najibullah Zadran, bowling a yorker at the base of middle, which Zadran (after giving himself room) creamed to Arshdeep at point who held on to a hard-hit ball. 

T20 World Cup 6th Match - India vs Bangladesh  

Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. India travelled to North Sound immediately after beating Afghanistan at Bridgetown, and would have been delighted to encounter what can be described as the most normal pitch they have faced in the tournament so far. The surface was fresh, and, while on the slower side, largely amenable to batting, with minimal lateral movement and not as much spin as compared to our previous super 8 fixture. The breeze blowing across the ground continues to be a factor. On this ground, it was imperative that our batting clicked, as 180 would be a par score - in the previous match at this venue, South Africa’s 194 was nearly overhauled by USA’s 176. 

Match summary (quantitative):  

India - 196/5 (20) 

Afghanistan - 146/8 (20) 

Result: India won by 50 runs  

Match summary (qualitative): India’s emphasis on playing fearless cricket and prioritising intent over sheer weight of runs finally paid dividends in their first innings in North Sound. Rohit and Virat got India off to a flyer, with both batsmen depositing Shakib over long on and deep midwicket respectively for mammoth sixes. Virat brought his wrists into play and whipped the pacers over midwicket and Rishad over the sightscreen, while Rohit brought out the sweep. However, both Rohit and Virat were soon dismissed in quick succession (Rohit for 23 in 11 and Virat for 37 in 28), but not before giving India an opening stand of 39 in 21. Pant continued the momentum by taking down Mustafizur’s 11th over immediately after the drinks break, smashing him through cover and over deep midwicket. However, he soon reverse swept one straight down short third man’s throat, and India once again lost a clump of wickets to leave Dube and Hardik at the crease with India 108/4 in 11.4. Both batsmen showed their match smarts, taking their time and hitting the deep fielders to see off some overs - had India lost another wicket in quick succession, we wouldn’t have had the firepower to propel us to a good score after 20 overs. Eventually, Dube started opening his shoulders, hitting 3 sixes before getting cleaned up by Rishad. Pandya continued the momentum and finished strongly, giving India an above-par total of 196. In their response, Bangladesh never looked like threatening our total. They batted defensively and struggled to take on any of our bowlers until the required run-rate had already gotten out of hand. In the powerplay, led by the ridiculously consistent Jasprit Bumrah, India shackled Bangladesh, before Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around the top and middle order to wreck the opposition’s chances completely. Arshdeep and Bumrah came back to enjoy some bonus lower order wickets, and Rohit Sharma caught particularly well at cover. 

Star performers: 

• Hardik Pandya - 50* (27) & 1-32 

• Kuldeep Yadav - 3-19 

• Jasprit Bumrah - 2-13 

Notes on star performers: Firstly, our entire batting order deserves a special mention for today’s performance. Cameos from Rohit, Virat, Pant and Dube (23 in 11, 37 in 28, 36 in 24, and 34 in 24 respectively) meant that we continuously struck blows throughout our innings (amounting to a whopping 13 sixes in total) and strung together a chain of momentum-building cameos. It would have been unfair to prioritise one of these innings over the other, so, as a result, there was only one batting star performer from this game. Building upon his supporting act in the previous match, Hardik understood the match situation perfectly and took his time initially, hitting 7 singles off his first 8 balls. He waited on the perfect moment to unleash his explosive six-hitting skills, capitalising on a tossed up delivery from Rishad and depositing him over cover, soon followed by another ferocious flat-batted hammer drop that sizzled through cover along the ground. He stuck to his strengths, launching the spinners over long-on and waiting for the pacers to drop short before blasting them over midwicket. Despite Mustafizur bowling a series of accurate wide yorkers (angling further away from the over the wicket angle) in the last over, Hardik managed 2 boundaries, with the last one that brought up his fifty being a delectable slice over third man, signifying his return to batting form. He topped up his performance by taking the first wicket of Bangladesh’s innings bowling a wide offcutter to deceive Litton Das, who pulled early and beyond his eyeline to skew a top edge to SKY at deep square leg, who took a diving catch. This once again highlighted his game awareness, as Litton had hit a pulled six the previous ball, and Hardik anticipated that he would target that region again.

In terms of our bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah once again displayed how astute and intelligent he is when it comes to analysing the pitch. Recognising that this pitch did not offer drastic assistance to him of any sort (unlike the previous pitches), he resorted to bowling accurate, on-pace, hard length deliveries. His control was superb, and he erred only once with a high full toss, reflected in his economy rate of 3.25. He could have struck in his second over, with Tanzid Hasan nicking a sharp, rising delivery behind to Pant, who grassed a tough chance, but he came back at the death to collect 2 wickets. First, the captain, Shanto, chose to attack a delivery with extra bounce on his stumps, and the left-hander could only manage a top edge that flew to Arshdeep at third man. Bumrah then dismissed the hard-hitting Rishad Hossein with a hard length delivery outside off that rushed onto the batsman, forcing him into a hurried, spliced pull that lobbed to Rohit at cover. 

Kuldeep Yadav, however, was the main hero of this bowling performance. Since making the team in the Caribbean as a specialist on spinning decks, he has lended our bowling attack potency and the ability to capitalise on the turning surfaces. His mastery over variations was on full display in this innings, where he trapped Tanzid Hasan with a googly that cut back in sharply, beating the batsman’s cut and striking him on the back leg in front of the stumps. The shot selection showed that his variation was masked superbly and that Tanzid did not read it at all. Kuldeep turned to a variation again to dismiss Towhid Hridoy, Bangladesh’s rising star. His dipping drifter snuck under Hridoy’s attempted slog sweep, straightening in the hair and hitting him on the back thigh in front of the stumps. Kuldeep completed his 3 fer by luring Shakib into a mistimed loft to Rohit at cover, and he remained economical throughout his spell. With 5 wickets in 2 games so far, hopefully Kuldeep can continue being accurate and obtaining purchase to remain a weapon for India! 

Surround Sound: Afghanistan beat Australia!! Our group now opens up tremendously! India now has a chance to knock Australia out tomorrow, which could be huge for our tournament. On the flip side, if Australia beats us, some net run rate shenanigans could occur, and we could get knocked out. We now get into potentially 3 extremely crucial games against seriously tough teams to decide how this world cup ends for us. Here we go… 

T20 World Cup 7th match - India vs Australia 

Venue: Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, Saint Lucia. For this heavyweight bout, India travel to Gros Islet, which had been the best batting pitch in the tournament by far. While the pitch was mostly flat and hard through the majority of both innings, there were some slight signs of spin and scoring became hard towards the latter part of the innings, as the ball became soft and the wicket became slightly sticky. However, on the whole, the bounce was true and aided run-scoring, with the powerplay being the best time for batters. 

Match summary (quantitative):  

India - 205/5 (20) 

Australia - 181/7 (20) 

Result: India won by 24 runs  

Match summary (qualitative): For most of the match, this game was a gripping contest that went back and forth at regular intervals. In the first 2 overs, Hazlewood and Starc started brilliantly, with Hazlewood bouncing out Kohli (the delivery reminiscent of his top edge in the 2015 world cup semi-final and the Marsh drop catch in the 2023 ODI World Cup group game between the 2 nations) and the opening bowlers shackling Pant. It looked like India were going to struggle their way to a below-par score with conservative batting (repeating the pattern of underpar performances in high-pressure tournament games), but then a rampant Rohit Sharma intervened. Taking it upon himself to display fearlessness under pressure, he tore apart Mitchell Starc, taking 29 off one over, kickstarting an onslaught where he rained down sixes and fours at will. By the end of the 5th over, India had 52, and Rohit had 50 (off 19!!). The sublime onslaught continued even against the spinners and the change bowlers, and Pant (and then Suryakumar) supported him well by rotating strike. After Rohit was eventually dismissed by a sharp Mitchell Starc yorker from around the wicket for 92, SKY and Dube continued the momentum and strung up a pair of attacking cameos. However, after Surya fell, the Australians (as they so often tend to do) slowly clawed their way back into the game. Dube and Hardik struggled to continue striking, as the ball started stopping in the wicket and the pacers dug it in short and slow. Soon, Dube holed out, but Hardik and Jadeja struck some lusty blows (Hardik clobbering a ball over cover while spinning around was a highlight!) to drag India over 200. While we were initially looking at 220, we did well to get to 205 in the end, but the score felt eminently chaseable… 

And even more so after the first 6 overs. After Arshdeep removed Warner in the first over, it was one way traffic. Head slashed away aggressively square of the wicket, and Marsh laced powerful backfoot drives. Bumrah was ripped apart for a 14-run over, Hardik was hammered, and the ghosts of November 19th, the inspiration for this journey-tracking review series, were haunting us. Once again, we looked clueless, completely at the mercy of Travis Head, out of plans and out of ideas. But then Rohit turned to Kuldeep, who shut down the scoring, and soon dismissed Marsh (with a half-tracker that was clubbed flat, destined to hit the fence on the full if not for Axar’s leaping effort and outstreched mid-air pluck). However, Head and Maxwell continued the momentum for Australia, who continued to match our innings every step of the way. At the 10 over mark, they needed 107 off 60. Maxwell in particular attacked our spinners with aplomb, peppering both square boundaries with his repertoire of sweeps. Jadeja was slammed out of the attack and Axar wasn’t allowed to settle. But then, in his last over, Kuldeep struck to remove Maxwell, bowling him with a googly. Axar backed him up by having Stoinis caught at backward point on the reverse sweep. At one end, Head kept attacking our bowlers, keeping the Aussies in the hunt, but we denied him support effectively, until Jasprit Bumrah had the last laugh. In an ironic twist, Rohit Sharma took the catch that dismissed Head to halt Australia’s march - the situation was reversed last year. And that was that. Arshdeep and Bumrah closed out the innings well, we executed our skills, and…let me relish this…we triumphed over Australia! 

Star performers: 

• Rohit Sharma - 92 (41) 

• Kuldeep Yadav - 2-24 

• Arshdeep Singh - 3-37 

Notes on star performers: An opening batsman is responsible for setting the tone of a team’s innings, and, if the team is batting first, the match as a whole. Their role becomes all the more important when it is a high-pressure fixture in a world cup. Rohit Sharma was a man on a mission as he walked to the crease in St. Lucia. He was determined to take on the big 3 Aussie quicks and find some salvation for the wounds of November 19th. The onslaught that followed will be remembered in the history books as enough time passes as one of the great T20 knocks played by an Indian batsman. It was not so much the runs he scored, but rather the manner in which he scored them. Balls flew sweetly off his bat as if shot from a gun and he seemed effectively unstoppable. The 29-run over from Starc saw an imperious loft over a cover, a flowing flay that crashed into the boundary cushion on the full off a wider ball, a premeditated (mistimed) muscle over mid-on for 4, a no-holds-barred bludgeon in the same direction, and a top-edged pull off a full toss over third man. He then belted Cummins into oblivion over deep square leg on one knee, sending it crashing on the roof. That shot had vengeance, fury and redemption written all over it. Rohit then unfurled some vintage class, making it seem like he had all the time in the world. The slog sweep off Zampa and the back-to-back sixes off Stoinis were examples of this. The highlights were his last two sixes - first, he opened his stance and set up to half-pull-half-hoick Stonis over deep square, and then he danced down the track and kicked his backleg back to angle a loft over deep cover that sailed over the boundary. Sheer class, elegance, and poise. In a high-pressure game against Australia. Rohit means business. 

Arshdeep got us off to a good start with the ball, finding swing to remove Warner with a test-match-like delivery. He swung it away from the leftie, finding the outside edge off his poke through to SKY at first slip who took a dramatic catch. He got reverse swing towards the end, but was a bit lucky in his dismissals of Wade (who sliced a catch to short third man) and David, who  skewed a full toss delivery to short third man as well. But Kuldeep Yadav was the superstar with the ball, slowing a rampaging Aussie attack with slow, wide googlies away from the batters’ reaches. In addition to the Marsh wicket, he dismissed Maxwell with a googly outside leg (having anticipated Maxi’s attacking shot). They were well supported by Axar (who bowled economically) and Bumrah (who dismissed Head) at a key moment!