On the night of 19 November, millions of cricket fans had moist eyes. The faces of the players were also sad. The Indian team had lost the World Cup final against Australia. But within 100 hours, the Indian team was once again in the field against the same Australia. Some players were changed, the format of the game was changed. But the match was only India vs Australia. Cricket fans were wondering what was the point of this T20 series, but the series was justified.
After about 6 months, along with all the teams of the world, India also has to stake its claim in the T20 World Cup. Which will be played in the joint hosting of West Indies and America. Obviously the players do not have time to mourn the defeat. Just like sometimes there is no time to celebrate victory. So Team India again entered the field. Out of the 3 matches played so far, it has won 2 matches. That means the score of the series is 2-1 in favor of India. The fourth match of the series is to be played in Raipur on Friday. The last match will be played in Bengaluru. It is quite possible that Team India will win this series. But more than winning or losing the series, the objective of this series does not seem to be being fulfilled.
What was the purpose of this T20 series?
Before the T20 World Cup, Team India had to play a total of 11 matches in this format. There were 3 matches in this. That means now 8 matches are left. On the basis of these 11 matches, the Indian team management had to decide which of the young players of T20 format are contenders to play in the World Cup? In this some batsmen were to be tried and some bowlers were to be tried. After the first three matches, the problem is that the batsmen are understanding the seriousness of this series but the bowlers are not. The batsmen have performed brilliantly in all the three matches played so far but the bowlers are continuously disappointing. Here we are not talking about those players who were part of the team in the World Cup or have played well for India. Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Akshar Patel can be counted among such players.
This series was important for batsmen Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma and Rinku Singh. Among the bowlers, names of Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi can be taken. The batsmen have presented their claim brilliantly but the bowlers have not shown their strength. Dew can be a reason for this but this reason alone cannot be used as a shield.
Remember the circumstances of the first three matches
To understand this, remember the three matches played so far. In the first match, the Indian team had achieved the target of 209 runs. Captain Suryakumar Yadav had scored a brilliant 80 runs in that match. Apart from this, Ishan Kishan also scored a half-century. Rinku Singh had won the match by playing brilliant shots in the lower order. In the next match, the Indian team added 235 runs on the scoreboard. In this match, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan all scored half-centuries. India won that match by 44 runs.
In the third match, the Indian team added 222 runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad had a brilliant century in this. However, in this match India was defeated by Australia by five wickets. That means, in all the three matches played so far, the Indian team has crossed the 200-run mark. But the condition of the bowlers is such that they could not defend even 222 runs. In the last match, the Indian bowlers gave away 43 runs in the last two overs. Some blame can be given to Dew but 22 runs in the 19th over and 23 runs in the 20th over still cannot be ‘justified’. Prasidh Krishna hit four fours and 1 six in the last over. It is difficult to digest this. This is not just a matter of one match. In this series, Krishna, the famous Indian bowler, has given runs at an economy of 13.25. Arshdeep Singh is giving away runs at an economy of 10.91. These figures show that both these bowlers have not left any impact yet. The interesting thing is that both these bowlers kept getting beaten in the last match but they could not think of anything new in their bowling.
Will only teams like ODI play T20 World Cup?
Now 8 T20 matches are left before the T20 World Cup. Rahul Dravid has been made the coach of Team India again. There is also a heated discussion that Rohit Sharma is also being prepared to captain the T20 World Cup. Rohit has not played T20 format since November last year. The kind of start he gave to Team India in the ODI World Cup is ideal for the T20 format. There is talk of talks with Virat Kohli also. If the Indian team prepares for the World Cup with this formula, then Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami also cannot be ‘ignored’.
Mohammed Shami had taken the most wickets in the World Cup. Apart from this, Jasprit Bumrah also bowled brilliantly. The way the bowlers are performing in the T20 format is making the absence of Bumrah and Shami more painful. That is, the situation is such that the batsmen playing the current series in the T20 World Cup team are still staking their claim but the bowlers are nowhere in this race. This thinking will become more clear from the next two matches. Instead of cursing the dew, the famous Krishna or Arshdeep Singh will have to tighten his belt.
