New Delhi. Super 8 teams in T20 World Cup 2024 have been decided. Teams from India, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, America, West Indies and England have made it to the last 8 teams. Bangladesh beat Nepal by 21 runs on Monday to become the second team from Group ‘D’ to reach the Super 8. In this match, the Bangladesh team defended the score of 106 runs very well and restricted Nepal to 85 runs in 19.2 overs. Nazmul Hussain Shanto’s team secured 6 points from 4 matches and became the second team from their group after South Africa (8 points) to reach the second round.
The 8 teams that qualify for the Super-8 will be divided into two groups of four each. The top 2 teams in both the groups will enter the semi-finals. As for Team India, the ‘Rohit Sharma Brigade’ will face Afghanistan in Bridgetown on June 20, Bangladesh in North Sound on June 22 and Australia in Grass Island on June 24 in the Super 8.
Among them, India’s record against Afghanistan and Bangladesh has been excellent. Both these teams are yet to defeat the Indian team in the T20 World Cup. However, once the Super 8s are entered, the matches will become tough and even the slightest mistake can ruin any team’s game and show them the way out. The good thing from Team India’s point of view is that the Super 8 match has moved from America to West Indies. Batsmen of all teams, including India, had to struggle on the ‘classless’ wickets of America, especially New York. Some batsmen were injured due to uneven bounce while the outfield was slow and the boundaries were also low. To a lesser extent West Indies also have a slow wicket situation but the situation here is better than America. The Super 8 match will start from June 19.
Ahead of the Super 8 match, Rohit’s team has a few ‘puzzles’ to solve that might challenge it.
1. Should Virat remain the opener or should Yashaswin get an entry?
As an opener in IPL 2024, Virat Kohli grabbed the Orange Cap by scoring runs in heaps. After this some former cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar suggested Virat to open with Rohit. However, this experiment has so far only ‘backfired’. Only 5 runs have come from Virat’s bat in three innings. Each time the team has had a bad start. After Virat’s failure as an opener, there is now talk of fielding him at number 3. The biggest plus point of dropping Virat at No. 3 is that when the first wicket falls early, he does not let the run-rate drop by playing a cricketing stroke instead of a ‘slog’. They also work to groom the innings. The general consensus is that Rohit and Yashaswi Jaiswal should open the innings as before and Virat should come in at No.3. Due to their left-right combination, the pair creates trouble for the opposition bowlers and fielders as well. For this it is necessary that Yashaswi be given a place in the playing eleven in the Super 8 round.
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2. How to set the right combination of batter and bowler
The Indian team’s strategy in the group level matches was somewhat defensive. Ravindra Jadeja was already in the squad, but to strengthen the batting, Akshar Patel, who bowls with left arm spin like him, was brought in. The use of 7 bowlers was beyond comprehension. Some of them were not used or only one or two overs were bowled. It is important that there is an ideal combination of batting and bowling, even if that means replacing all-rounders with quality batsmen in the playing eleven.
3. Match winner Kuldeep should be in the playing eleven at any cost.
There is a common belief about wrist spinners that they change the course of a match by picking up a good number of wickets. They are more difficult for batsmen to face than conventional spinners. Then Team India has a ‘rare’ Chinaman bowler like Kuldeep Yadav. However, it was surprising that Kuldeep did not make it into the playing eleven so far in the tournament. It is exactly like you don’t include strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the playing eleven to strengthen the batting. Apart from Pakistan in the group stage, the Indian team was facing new teams like USA and Canada, so Kuldeep was not at a loss but ignoring this lethal bowler in the Super 8 could prove costly. Kuldeep has shown that he is both lethal and economical with his performance (15 wickets, economy 4.45) in the World Cup (ODI) 2023.
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4. Decide the playing eleven keeping in mind the pitch and the opposing team.
The Team India management has fielded the same playing XI in the first three matches of the tournament but in the Super 8 round, 11 players should be decided keeping in mind the opposition team and the pitch. India have their first match against Afghanistan in Bridgetown which is good for batting. This is the only 200+ score of the tournament so far, so it would be better to go with three spinners. Even in the Grass Islet match against Australia, betting on Kuldeep can prove to be a ‘master stroke’ to tame the aggressive batsmen of the opposition.
5 wickets fell in the last over of the T20 WC match, but the bowler could not take the hat-trick.
5. Don’t hesitate at all to make tough decisions
The performance of Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Siraj in the T20 World Cup is a matter of concern. Jadeja’s runs and wickets columns are empty in three matches. He got to bat only once in three matches and did not even open the account, while he did not get a wicket in a total of 3 overs bowled in three matches. Similarly, Siraj has managed to take only 1 wicket at an average of 57 in 3 matches. In such a situation, a better decision can be made with a combination of three fast bowlers (Bumrah, Arshdeep and Hardik) and two or three spinners. Playing aggressive cricket with intelligence is the mantra of success in T20. For this, one should not shy away from taking tough decisions.
Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli, Yashaswi Jaiswal
First published: June 17, 2024, 10:27 IST