Follow Us8 matches as full-time captain in white-ball cricket. 8 impressive wins with the team looking convincing as ever. It seems that Rohit Sharma, at this point in time, can do absolutely no wrong.
A T20I series against a dangerous West Indies side was going to be the toughest test of Rohit’s embryonic captaincy career but across the past three days at the Eden Gardens, he’s passed it with flying colours. Heading into Sunday, then, for Rohit and his side, it is all about applying the finishing touches and ensuring that this sweet little dominant run in the shortest format extends, as the team looks to build more confidence heading into the Sri Lanka series that will kick-off next week.
India have nearly ticked every box already, whilst completing the primary objective of sealing a series win, and come the third T20I the management will be hoping for the individuals who have not lit up the series yet, such as Ishan Kishan and Deepak Chahar, to come to the party. That would be the icing on the cake.
For West Indies, meanwhile, it will be about finding the right template - with both bat and ball - to pierce this Indian side. The visitors have done well in patches in both facets but have been unable to produce the knockout punch. They would be keen to end the tour on a high.
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Spotlight on the struggling Ishan KishanAfter a painful 42-ball stay at the crease in the first T20I, that yielded just 35 runs, Ishan Kishan wouldn’t have been mistaken for thinking that things will not get any worse for him than that, in a T20I. But the 23-year-old would end up enduring more agony immediately in the second game in the form of a horrid 2(10) in which he looked fully lost. Not even a free hit on the very third ball of the innings was able to rescue him.
The horror outing across the first two outings means that, come the third game, all the spotlight will be on the youngster despite the contest itself set to be one holding little significance.
So far in the series Kishan has struggled immeasurably against both pace and spin, but what’s plagued him big time is his inability to get off the blocks quickly. The left-hander’s strike rate in his first 10 balls in this series reads an eye-watering 50.00, with him scoring a solitary boundary in 20 deliveries. This is in stark contrast to his successful stint in the IPL as an opener, where he boasts a SR of 138 in the first 10 balls while finding the boundary rope once every 3.9 balls.
As someone who thrives on starting positively up front, the key for Kishan to get out of this rut, therefore, might be to consciously attempt to take the bowlers on early. That, however, is easier said than done, especially with Sheldon Cottrell bossing the new-ball. Against Cottrrell up-front, Kishan has managed to score merely 7 runs off 14 balls faced.
A third consecutive failure is unlikely to affect Kishan’s ‘back-up opener’ label, and with Rahul out of the Sri Lanka tour, he is guaranteed to get at least one more series up-front. But for the southpaw’s own sake, a refreshing, trademark explosive knock might be the need of the hour.
Can West Indies find a way to utilize their batting resources better?
In the second T20I on Friday, the Windies uncharacteristically failed to chase down 187 despite having seven wickets in hand, with the likes of Holder, Odean Smith and Shepherd not facing a single ball. Subsequently in the first, they ended up posting a below par first innings total (157) with Pollard and Odean Smith facing just 23 balls between them as Shepherd and Fabian Allen watched the entirety of the innings from the dugout.
Across both the games the visitors ended up not utilizing their batting resources efficiently and effectively, something that ultimately led to their downfall. Come the third, the onus will be on Pollard’s side to ensure that a repeat does not occur.
This does not necessarily mean the batters have to come out swinging from ball one, but certainly, the top-order needs to find a way of providing quicker starts. Despite the loss of just one wicket, the powerplay in the first two games for the visitors produced just 44 and 41 runs respectively.
At the half-way mark, WI found themselves 71/2 and 73/2 in the first and second games respectively, not only leaving too much to do in the second half, but not making smart use of resources despite batting all the way down to No.10.
On Friday, through Powell and Pooran the Windies found the ideal pairing to take down the Indian spinners, but to go all the way and get the ‘W‘ that has eluded them, they would need the openers, too, to come to the party by putting pressure on the Indian bowlers from the get go.
Team News
As announced on Saturday, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant will be missing the third game after being granted a break from the bio-bubble. Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Hooda - the only two middle-order batters on the bench - are hence expected to feature in the starting XI on Sunday. With Rohit making it clear that the management wants to give game-time to certain players, it won’t be a surprise if the bowling unit remains unchanged.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi
Granted everyone is fit, the Windies are expected to field an unchanged line-up.
West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd, Sheldon Cottrell