Success hasn’t stagnated India. They might have lifted the T20 World Cup about three months ago, but that won’t stop them from experimenting. India’s new captain and head coach, Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir have decided that they no longer want to stick with the old ‘specialists’ approach. They want what’s the need of the game right now.
India play with 15 men
We saw them go heavy on all-rounders and give preference to batters who can bowl. They’ve continued that trend against Bangladesh as well. In Gwalior, Team India didn’t go in with 11 players but 15. The XI featured proper batters until number 8, while 7 players in the line-up could bowl, that too without counting Abhishek Sharma’s part-time left-arm darts.
Pace & spin, both covered
The services of all these batters or bowlers weren’t required, though. Dominant from the start, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy brought Bangladesh to their knees as they took 6 wickets among them. However, 8 of the 20 overs were bowled by all-rounders. Hardik Pandya, Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar combined gave 55 runs for 2 wickets at less than 7 runs an over.
Hitting ’em big
This helped India restrict Bangladesh to just 127. A target that seemed like a walk in the park. A ferocious start from Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Sharma saw Team India get to 71 runs by the end of the powerplay. The batters had done more than enough.
Suryakumar and Gambhir’s all-rounder high approach worked wonders once again. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten and guided India to an easy 7-wicket victory. Debutant Reddy played the second fiddle, scoring just 16 (15), while Pandya went berserk, scoring 39 (15). Together, the two pace bowling all-rounders scored 55 (30) and took India across the line in Gwalior.
Mind you, India still had Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, and Washington Sundar in the dugout. This is exactly what the Indian management wants. Players who can win games from anywhere and bail their teammates out when things aren’t going in their favour.
Good headache for Surya
After winning the match, captain Suryakumar Yadav was asked how he manages having so many bowling options. With three frontline bowlers, one can’t hand the ball to everyone. Surya thinks having a flurry of options is great. “It’s a good headache to have when you are on the field when you have extra bowling options,” said the Indian captain in the post-match interview.
