Don’t celebrate just yet! Even though Thursday turned out to be just the day India wanted in the T20 World Cup. Two matches were played, and both yielded results in line with India’s requirements.
First South Africa beat the West Indies rather comfortably to make the net-run rate conundrum for India irrelevant. Then they themselves beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs to make the match against the West Indies in Kolkata on March 1 kind of a knockout. The winner of the game goes to the semis along with South Africa from Group 1.
Yes, India’s troubles have lessened dramatically since their loss to South Africa in their Super 8 opener but that doesn’t mean they are entirely over.
Also Read: What India’s crushing win over Zimbabwe means for their semifinal chances
From what we have seen so far in the tournament, West Indies can not be taken lightly. Their defeat against South Africa yesterday was their first in the tournament. And there was one phase particularly in that game that should worry India a lot.
After losing early wickets, West Indies were tottering at 83/7 when Romario Shepherd joined Jason Holder in the middle. And against all expectations, they added 89 runs off just 59 balls. That tells the Caribbean team bats very deep and at no point can India relax against them. India’s bowling is the reason behind those worries, if truth be told.
Chakaravarthy and Pandya haven’t inspired much confidence as yet
After scoring 256/4 against Zimbabwe, they would have hoped for a bigger win than what they eventually got. Against South Africa, despite taking three early wickets, they allowed them to post 187.
The problem is India’s bowling in the middle overs. Varun Chakaravarthy has been far from his best. Hardik Pandya too hasn’t been inspiring. Both failed to deliver against the Proteas and India struggled. Besides, the Zimbabwe outing has proved that Shivam Dube, who conceded 46 runs in two overs, can’t be trusted with the ball unless the pitch is really bad, and it was not yesterday.
Basically, India can’t afford to relax at any point against the West Indies. Even with early wickets, they can’t afford to take their foot off the gas. And they would do well to remember how the Caribbean team had stunned them in the 2016 T20 World Cup semifinal as well as Kolkata was the venue where Darren Sammy’s men had shocked England to win their second T20 World Cup trophy.