Come rain or shine

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 25

The young Indian bowling unit will have to push behind the timid show in the series opener and find its flow against a forceful Australian batting line-up in the second T20I here tomorrow.

India had won the first game at Visakhapatnam by two wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, but their bowlers, except pacer Mukesh Kumar, looked incapable of stemming the run-flow.

The pitch and conditions at the Greenfield International Stadium will not be much different, and that makes it imperative for the Indian bowlers to fire collectively. Despite that, the management might not look to shake the order for this match.

In the opening encounter, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna went for 10.25 and 12.50 runs per over, respectively, while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was carted around for 13.50 runs per over. India’s ambition to double the lead will depend a lot on these bowlers significantly improving here.

It’s not an impossible task either as Mukesh showed. The pace bowler mixed up his deliveries well to contain the Aussie batters. So, the other frontline bowlers now have a route map to follow in the second match.

However, India will not have much to complain about the batting department as skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal displayed fine touch.

Suryakumar, Rinku and Jaiswal met the quick-scoring demands of a high chase effortlessly, though Kishan took a few overs to settle down before hitting the overdrive. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was run out in the previous match, and Tilak Varma too will be eyeing some runs against their name as they are part of India’s journey into T20 future.

“We just want to go with the flow and take it one game at a time,” Varma said.

Being one step ahead

Trying to stay a step ahead of players like Suryakumar and Kishan has always been left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff’s endeavour but it is easier said than done at times, admitted the Australian speedster.

Behrendorff was the only Aussie bowler who came out unscathed with figures of 1/25 in his full quota during India’s record run-chase of 209 in the opening game.

Asked what could possibly be his strategy to stop Suryakumar, his Mumbai Indians teammate, Behrendorff replied in jest, “Give the ball to someone else may be.”

I have played under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy in the IPL, when he captained Mumbai Indians for one match. He is very calm and clear in his thoughts. He is a very good captain. In the last match also he played really well in a tough situation and he managed (the players) well. —Tilak Varma

They are all pretty good players and may be try to keep them guessing, just to stay one step ahead which is hard to do at times. Maybe do what we can in terms of change in pace, line and length. —Jason Behrendorff, On how the India batters can be restricted

“They are all pretty good players and may be try to keep them guessing, just to stay one step ahead, which is hard to do at times. Maybe, do what we can in terms of change in pace, line and length,” the lanky seamer added.

“I have been pretty fortunate that the ball swung pretty much whenever I have played in India. So, sticking to my strength and trying to swing the ball upfront and take wickets in Powerplay, that’s what I have been able to do over a period of time,” he added. — PTI

2 of the 3 T20Is hosted by Thiruvananthapuram so far have been won by teams chasing. The previous T20I here, in September last year, saw South Africa collapse to 9/5 in overcast conditions. After Saturday witnessed rain, it could be overcast tomorrow as well

3Successive T20I victories for India against Australia. The last time Australia beat India in a T20I was in September 2022, just before the T20 World Cup

#Arshdeep Singh #Cricket