Ahmedabad: India will have to quickly plug their batting shortcomings
and pick the right team composition when they go into the second and
last Twenty20 cricket international against arch rivals Pakistan on
friday, hoping to level the two match series 1-1.
India suffered a
five-wicket drubbing in the series opener in Bangalore after a
middle-order collapse, which saw the hosts struggle to 130 for nine
after being 90 for two at one stage.
The hosts desperately need
to win the second game to level the series and the pressure will be on
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to deliver the goods when it
matters the most.
Apart from Gautam Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya
Rahane (42), all the other batsmen failed to apply themselves when
confronted against a strong bowling attack spearheaded by the
experienced Umar Gul.
In fact, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were the only ones other than the openers to have reached the double figures.
India
would need the likes of Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma to
regroup and fire in unison against the traditional rivals who are also
equally determined to clinch the T20 series.
The bowling also remains a persistent headache for the Indians.
Except
for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with impressive figures of three
for nine in his debut game, none of the other bowlers could trouble the
Pakistani batsmen.
Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja all struggled to get wickets or even check the flow of runs.
The
decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin in the last match was seen as
a move that worked in Pakistan's favour and Dhoni might be tempted to
play him in the must-win tie.
The Indians had opted to go in with
three specialist seamers in the last match and it will be interesting
to see whether they go in with the same strategy or include a spinner.
Dhoni's decision to go in with Jadeja ahead of Ashwin also drew criticism.
"Ashwin
was not there in this team. So our plan was that if we play out the new
ball, then their spinners are not world class; I know Yuvraj is in
great form, but when you don't have a world class spinner then we can
dominate," Pakistan skipper Mohammed Hafeez had said.
Besides,
innumerable chances given to Sharma has also been the talking point and
the Indian think-tank may have a lot of work to do before they settle
for the playing XI for tomorrow's match.
It will be interesting
to see if a chance is given to Ambati Rayudu, considering his past
performances in this format of the game.
Pakistan,
on the other hand, lived up to their reputation of a strong bowling
unit with three specialist pacers Gul, Sohail Tanvir and lanky debutant
Mohammad Irfan wrecking havoc on a pace-friendly Chinnaswamy track.
They would look to carry on the momentum tomorrow also though the Sardar Patel track may not give them much assistance.
The
visitors' batting, however, has been a cause of concern for them with
openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad struggling to provide a platform
during their run chase at Bangalore.
Even the reliable Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi failed to get big scores.
Hafeez
and Shoaib Malik were the saving grace and Pakistan would hope that
they continue with their exploits along with the others striking form.
Captain
Dhoni had blamed the failure of the middle-order batsmen to capitalise
on the good start as the reason for his team's defeat in the first
match.
"The batsmen got out trying to play big shots. We could have easily scored 200 if we had applied ourselves," Dhoni had said.
It
remains to be seen whether the batsmen put up a better display now and
not go for wreckless shots in a bid to accelerate the pace of scoring.
Dhoni
himself will be under intense pressure with his captaincy coming under
the scanner in the aftermath of the recent Test debacle against England
He
has always been regarded as a better captain in the shorter formats of
the game, but the recent defeats in T20 matches has certainly dented his
reputation.
The defeats have come at home, where the team is
playing in familiar conditions, and Dhoni has a tough task in lifting
the morale of the team.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir,
Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina,
Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin,
Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashoke Dinda,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Parvinder Awana.
Pakistan: Mohammed Hafeez (Capt), Nasir Jamshaid,
Kamran Akmal, Umer Akmal, Umer Amin, Shoaib Malik,
Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammed Irfan, Junaid Khan,
Sohail Tanveer, Umer Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Baber, Ahmad
Shahzad.
On-field umpires: Sudhir Asnani and Vineet Kulkarni
3rd umpire: C Shamshuddin
Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama
Match starts at 5 pm (IST).
