The Men in Blue’s final stretch in the World Cup’s league phase has raised queries about their middle-order’s lack of punch when it comes to hastening the run-rate. Ahead of Tuesday’s game against Bangladesh, batting coach Sanjay Bangar said that the playing eleven’s composition is flexible keeping in mind the nature of the opponent and the surface on offer. Excerpts .
The neighbour’s challenge:
We are playing (Bangladesh) on the same track (that was used against England) and we know the wicket and the dimensions well. We also have to assess from the bowling perspective on how to improve. In the last six to seven overs, we gave plenty of runs, whether that’s an area where the game slipped, we need to look. We will assess the things that went wrong and correct those.
Rishabh Pant’s role:
The team management felt the absence of a left-hander after Shikhar (Dhawan) got injured. It was a ploy to use the right-left combination in the middle overs to upset England’s bowling plans. Because of that Adil Rashid couldn’t bowl the number of overs he would have usually bowled.
Sluggish climax:
I don’t think so, because if you look at the way England bowled towards the end, the (ground) dimensions were used well. It created difficult angles for our batters to hit, especially with the type of balls they were bowling — slower bouncers, into the wicket deliveries and slower balls. In last few overs, the difference between runs required and balls left were too much. Had we tried bigger shots earlier, we might have ended a few runs short. It also helps the net run-rate a bit with the extra runs.
Spinners’ nightmare:
It was one of their off days. But they have been doing really well for us and we need to continue to back them. In the next few games, they will have a crucial role.
Dhoni the finisher:
Five out of seven games he has done the job. Against South Africa he stitched a partnership with Rohit (Sharma). After that he did what was required of him against Australia. In Manchester, on a difficult track (against the West Indies) he got a vital 56. Here also he was striking the ball well (against England). I am surprised that this question comes up but we are happy with his intent.
Extra seamer:
We are open to all combinations where three seamers can play with Hardik (Pandya). We are also looking at (Ravindra) Jadeja coming in. Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) is also available for selection and everybody is in the mix.
