Delhi: India’s campaign to win the World Cup got a big blow in the very first match of the Super 8 round. The fear that the match against South Africa would be very difficult proved to be correct. It seemed that South Africa had done their homework and the mistakes and shortcomings from Team India gave them a bonus. In this way, it was Team India’s off day. Let’s discuss all this:
It started with the wrong decision of the team. Vice-captain Akshar Patel was removed from the team because South Africa has three lefties. South Africa included Keshav in the team because India has 6 lefties in the top 8. Akshar Patel should not have played just because he is the vice-captain, but also because he was a player who played an important role in winning some difficult matches in the last 2024 T20 World Cup. Selecting Vashi is equivalent to selecting Gill. Due to this wrong choice the chances of defeat increased further. Akshar would fulfill his quota, take some wickets and definitely bat better.
Even then South Africa’s score in 4 overs was 20-3 because South African batsmen Quinton, Markram and Rickelton, who knew the ground better, played shots on the side which were short boundaries. India did its homework well but after that the scenario changed completely. The story of Miller and Brewis’ brilliant counter attack was as spectacular as Varun Chakraborty’s occasional failures.
* South Africa 20-3 in 4 overs and India on top.
* 108 runs were added in the next 9 overs and the score seemed to be 210-220.
* India gave 59 runs in the last 7 overs. South Africa’s total was 187 runs.
Varun Chakraborty disappointed:
He bowled his fourth most expensive spell (1-47) in T20 International, the special thing is that his top 4 expensive spells in T20 International are against South Africa only, he has given more than 40 runs only 4 times in 41 matches, even now his record in Ahmedabad has become 1/100 in 8 overs. All these records needed attention before the match.
Note the brilliant performance by Stubbs (he was not actually part of the team), which included 16 runs off the last 4 balls. The expectation was that India would score between 66-70 runs in the power play and would not lose more than one wicket. In such a situation, there was great expectation from Abhishek. The truth is that Abhishek and Tilak have now become a serious concern. It’s not just about them getting out, it’s about the pressure they are unable to handle and have lost confidence. Before this match, South Africa had played 3 matches here. He took full advantage of this. The focus had to be on net run rate to minimize losses and not lose by a big margin. India could not do anything on that front also. The hasty shots played by the batsmen have disappointed the team. This was a very bad day for Team India. The campaign is still going on for India to win the World Cup.
Fun Fact:* Even those supporting Team India were so disappointed that the Modi Stadium started emptying rapidly even before the end of the match.
* Hardik Pandya’s world record of 21 consecutive wins in ICC Trophy stopped. The next best record is 17 (Michael Clarke, Shaun Tait). Axar Patel (16) has a chance to improve Pandya’s record.
* India has chased 150+ scores only three times in the T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli won the Player of the Match award in all those 3 matches (Scores: 72*, 82*, 82*).
* After recording only three ‘hit wicket’ dismissals earlier this T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka’s Dushan Hemantha became the third player to be dismissed in such a manner in the last 11 days.
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