T20 World Cup: Batmen rise

Bridgetown, June 19

Virat Kohli will be expected to hit his straps after a lean run while left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav will anxiously wait for his chance when title favourites India face a sprightly Afghanistan in their opening Super 8 fixture of the T20 World Cup here tomorrow.

Afghanistan is a very dangerous team in this format of the game. They play a lot of T20 cricket and their cricketers are very prominent members of their IPL teams. They have showed that with their performances in the World Cup. Rahul Dravid, India coach

The big talking point ahead of the game is the Indian team combination. Will India go with the same line-up that worked for them in the group stage or bring in their best spinner over the last 12 months, Kuldeep, at the expense of a specialist pacer now? At the start of the tournament, skipper Rohit Sharma had expressed his keenness to include all four all-rounders — Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja — in the playing XI.

0 India have never lost to Afghanistan in T20Is, winning seven of the eight games with one being a no-result

122* Virat Kohli holds the record for the highest individual score for India against Afghanistan in T20Is. He has also scored the most runs (201) against the opponent in the format

96.72 Suryakumar Yadav’s runs (59) at the World Cup so far have come at a strike-rate of 96.72, far below his career T20I strike-rate of 168.06

If you have been the world’s No. 1 batsman for the past two years, you should know how to bat according to different conditions. Suryakumar Yadav

The practice wicket here is much better from what we saw in the USA. It’s a little spicy, but much better. Suryakumar Yadav

That strategy suited the Indian team in the bowler-friendly conditions in New York and the captain is expected to retain the winning combination that stretches their batting till No. 8. The only way to fit Kuldeep into the team is to either drop Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh. If that does happen, Siraj is most likely to be benched. If the two practice sessions of the Indian team are an indication, the pitch could offer plenty to the spinners, making Kuldeep’s case stronger. With the gentle breeze blowing across the Kensington Oval, the pacers should get the ball to swing in the powerplay.

As is often the case, all eyes will be on Kohli, who is yet to log a double-digit score in the tournament. His strategy to go for his strokes did not yield the desired results in New York but he is expected to be at his imperious best on the better wickets in the Caribbean. The 35-year-old is always operating at 100 per cent and the intensity he showed during the training sessions was a testament to his exemplary work ethic.

Shivam Dube, who was brought into the side to hammer sixes in the middle and death overs, has sent the ball out of the park only once in this competition. The pitches in USA did not allow him to go after the spinners. He would be expected to change that in the Super 8s and beyond.

India’s premier T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav too was back among runs against USA, albeit not in his usual swashbuckling style. Runs are also pending from the bat of Hardik Pandya, who has been exceptional with the ball. On the bowling front, Arshdeep Singh has grown in confidence with each passing game, playing the perfect wingman to Jasprit Bumrah in both the powerplay and death overs. — PTI

De Kock, Rabada help SA edge spirited US

Antigua: South Africa beat USA by 18 runs in the first Super 8 game as Kagiso Rabada’s experience came to the fore at the end of a tense game. Having struggled on New York’s slow pitches in the group stage, South Africa scored freely, posting 194/4 on the back of Quinton de Kock’s fine knock of 74. In response, US opener Andries Gous (80 not out) provided the fireworks along with Harmeet Singh (38) down the order but fast bowler Rabada picked up crucial wickets in his spell of 3/18.

Brief scores: South Africa: 194/4 (de Kock 74, Markram 46, Klaasen 36*; Netravalkar 2/21, Harmeet 2/24); USA: 176/6 (Gous 80*, Harmeet 38; Rabada 3/18). Reuters