India’s 69-run victory over Zimbabwe in Chennai has kept the hosts alive in this T20 World Cup, yet the chat straight after the game was less about two points and more about balance. Anil Kumble and Faf du Plessis, watching from the studio, reckon India still haven’t nailed “role clarity” – especially around a sixth bowling option.
For the moment, Rohit Sharma leans on five specialists: Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. Once those 20 overs are pencilled in, any extra spin or pace tends to come from Shivam Dube. His returns so far read 9.2-0-124-5, an economy rate touching 13.3. Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh have each turned the arm over in the last 18 months, but only in short bursts.
“They certainly did all the right things to get the batters to bowl a bit through the previous World Cup to now,” Kumble said on the TimeOut show. “If you look at the last 18 months, where India played T20 cricket where they’ve won every single game, that Tilak Varma got to bowl, Abhishek Sharma got to bowl, Dube got to bowl. Then even Rinku Singh bowled, even Suryakumar Yadav bowled.
“So in that sense, you have options and that’s great. But on a flat pitch, there will be challenges. India would ideally want the comfort of playing eight batters, rather than going in with seven batters and five specialist bowlers.”
Du Plessis nodded in agreement. From his vantage point, opposing sides will simply soak up Bumrah and Varun, then try to cash in elsewhere.
“100%. You look at it and ask: who are the danger bowlers? Most of the time, it’s Bumrah. On the day, you make that call – if you can get on top of someone else early, then the sixth bowling option is going to have to come in.
“If that happens, and he [Dube] is bowling wide yorkers or defensive lines, you can line him up.”
India’s coaching group have tried to plug the gap through selection tweaks. Axar made way for Washington Sundar against South Africa to bring in an off-spinner to left-handers. Two nights later, Sanju Samson got his first outing and struck a breezy 24; Ishan Kishan shuffled to No. 3; Tilak dropped to No. 6 and blasted an unbeaten 44 off 16 balls, doing an impression of Rinku at the death.
Those moves worked against Zimbabwe, yet neither pundit thinks the jigsaw is finished. “The team they would have planned before the World Cup and where they find themselves now feels very different from a role perspective,” du Plessis added, hinting that one more reshuffle might still be on the cards.
Next up are West Indies – a side that racked up 254 for 6 versus Zimbabwe and, two days later, clawed from 83 for 7 to 176 for 8 against South Africa. On friendly Chennai surfaces, India’s main five should again hold their own. The bigger issue is the four or, more precisely, the sixth.
