BRIDGETOWN: A sudden shower that lasted for about an hour in varying intensity on Monday night brought the humidity down a bit here after a hard day’s work. It continued for a bit on Tuesday morning as well, but the Indian contingent, and all those all around the team, would hope that it was just a one-off.Rain is the last thing that they would want on game-day against Afghanistan in Super-8s.
Especially after what they saw of the Afghans in St Lucia in their last league game on Monday before they flew down to Barbados to take on the mighty Indians. Rohit Sharma would desperately want the game not to be curtailed, because in a 20-over contest on a good pitch — as was the case in St Lucia and would be at Kensington Oval as well — India are far ahead of the Afghans.
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To add to that, Monday’s game left a crucial pointer as to how India should go about their work on Thursday. West Indies top-order batters Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran launched a brutal assault on the Afghan pacers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai, plundering 92 off the first six overs that virtually killed the game for the Afghans. But over the next 14 overs, once the spinners came into operation, the likes of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed were able to curtail the West Indians, even though Rashid went for a massive 28-run last over towards the end, courtesy a rampaging Pooran.
India will surely take a cue from this game and look to do maximum damage right at the top before Afghanistan spinners can get into the game. Given the fact that it’s a day game and there will be no dew, it won’t be a bad idea to bat first and take the game away from Afghanistan, unless of course, there is a lot of moisture on the day of the match.
Virat Kohli, during the practice sessions here, is trying to be at his attacking best. For Rohit Sharma in T20s, it’s always top-gear cricket and the duo will look to push on the accelerator right from the word go. And India’s No. 3 for the tournament Rishabh Pant, too, has been in fine form and the team would love at least two of the three to take charge so that the Afghans don’t find a footing.
For Afghanistan, the turnaround time from a heavy 104-run defeat is very short, especially when they are up against a team that they have never beaten. Coach Jonathan Trott tried to take the lessons from a defeat.
“We have seen the areas that we need to work on…If we don’t start an over well, being able to get out of it without too much damage is something we need to do. Today we had two that went for 60 runs and that swung the game massively and took a lot of pressure off the next 18 overs,” Trott said.
But Afghanistan definitely lack the depth in their pace attack that can seriously threaten India. It’s one area where India — with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya — are so vastly superior that for the Afghan warriors, it can be a bridge too far.
Or, at least that’s what all the Indian fans trooping into Barbados from different parts of the US and Canada believe, along with the millions back home. We will all know in a couple of days’ time!