West Indies vs India, 2nd Semi-Final
In a tournament that has so far been dominated by low-scoring wickets,
where the ball has stopped and turned rather than coming on to the bat,
the Wankhede track has been the biggest exception.
They came into the World Twenty20 on the back of contrasting build-ups.
While India was identifying potential match-winners during a string of
T20 internationals ahead of the marquee event, its Caribbean counterpart
was involved in a long-drawn payment dispute with the administrators.
While the Indian team was trying out various combinations, the West
Indies players were mulling pull-outs.
When it came to the big stage, however, the two teams’ journey to
the semifinals has been paradoxical in another way. India stuttered at
the start and was fortunate in the middle, before relying on its key
batsman for scraping into the semifinals. The Caribbeans, on the other
hand, started off in a rampaging manner and stumbled only after sealing a
last-four spot.
No wonder then that the semifinal face-off between both the teams will
be billed as the battle between method and madness; panache and power;
host and hunter.
If India has Virat Kohli’s flair, the West Indies has been relying heavily on Chris Gayle’s
robust hitting at the top of the order. If India has Ashish Nehra’s
experience to bank on, the West Indies has relied on Andre Russell’s
surprise elements. If India has Jasprit Bumrah’s yorkers at the death,
the Caribbeans have banked on Dwayne Bravo’s variations. It's a team game, says Gambhir
As Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Darren Sammy will walk out for the toss at
the Wankhede Stadium, hoping that it won’t be the last time for them in
national colours, they will realise that besides the headaches that have
cropped due to a major injury in each set-up, they will have to deal
with a tricky Wankhede wicket. Pandey replaces Yuvraj
In a tournament that has so far been dominated by low-scoring
wickets, where the ball has stopped and turned rather than coming on to
the bat, the Wankhede track has been the biggest exception. All the
three games at the stadium, in the league stage, saw teams scoring at
above eight runs an over. However, none of those three games, including
the West Indies’ tournament opener against England which saw Gayle score
a stunning hundred, was played on the centre wicket.
The centre strip, usually reserved for India games at the Wankhede, will
be used for the first time in this tournament. The fact that the
curators preferred to expose it under the baking sun all through
Wednesday could result in it starting to break down as the double-header
progresses on Thursday.
That aside, both the teams will have a common concern to address.
That of their middle and lower middle order batsmen’s performance with
the willow. While India’s batting unit has been heavily reliant on Kohli
all through the league stage, there has hardly been anything to talk
about the rest of the batting line-up, including openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
West Indies, on the other hand, couldn’t bank on its prolonged battery
of all-rounders as all of them faltered when put under pressure,
especially against a decent spin attack. As a result, both the bowling
units will be hoping for early breakthroughs to keep the opponent under
check.
If that doesn’t happen, while the packed Wankhede crowd will
enjoy a run feast, it could put either team in serious trouble of
keeping alive its chances of lifting the trophy for the second time.
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall
Played 4, India 2, West Indies 2
In World Twenty20
Played 3, India 1, West Indies 2
PITCH & WEATHER
With back-to-back games to be played, the strip will obviously get
slower as the day progresses. It would be interesting to see if it turns
out to be a belter which it was during the league stage. Lesser said
about the Mumbai heat, even in the evenings, the better.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Royal challenge
They are team-mates in the IPL. They both shoulder the heavy burden of
expectations from their respective batting sides. And their teams have
been trying to not let their respective units as a one-man army. The
fact, however, remains that Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle hold the key to
India and West Indies’ success, especially in the shortest format. Who
will end up justifying his reputation on Thursday?
A-B power
T20 cricket is synonymous with big-hitters. However, R. Ashwin and
Samuel Badree have consistently tied up opposition batsmen, especially
while bowling with the new ball. In fact, they have made early inroads
even in World T20. As a result, Ashwin’s duel with Gayle and Badree’s
battle against Kohli could well be defining moments during the
semifinal.
Star replacement?
Both the teams have suffered a major injury blow in the lead-up to the
semifinals. India has brought in Manish Pandey in place of Yuvraj Singh
and the West Indies has replaced Andre Fletcher with Lendl Simmons.
While it’s a fairly easy choice for the West Indies, with Simmons set to
open the batting with Gayle, India is in a conundrum to replace Yuvraj
with either Ajinkya Rahane or Pandey or left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who
can hit lusty blows. Whoever it is, the performance of the replacement
players will hold the key to the team’s success.
The teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain, wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar
Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja,
Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Ajinkya Rahane,
Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi and Harbhajan Singh.
West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Chris Gayle, Johnson
Charles, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell,
Carlos Brathwaite, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn,
Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse and Jerome Taylor.
No comments:
Post a Comment