Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: “Australia will be a different ball game. It is always challenging when it comes to going out there and performing. Every time you go there, you are tested as a player, as an individual and as a team,” these were Rohit Sharma’s comments after India’s six-wicket win in the third T20I at Chennai. Rohit’s views raised a valid question. What did India gain from the 3-0 whitewash of the Windies before the Australia tour?
Not a lot actually, but not nothing at all too.
The timing of the series – Roughly 10 days before the Australia series begins – was its biggest takeaway. India, still known to look at T20 Internationals (international is the key word here) with the corner of the eye, would for the first time play two successive three-match T20I series. Naturally, the confidence gathered from the clean sweep would hold India in good shape for the T20I series in Australia starting on November 21.
The other Pandya
After the 1st match of the series in Kolkata, many wondered what took India so long to try out Krunal Pandya in T20Is. His game – run-saving ability with the ball and brutal power coupled with an imaginative mind with the bat in hand – are ideal for this format. Handed the T20I cap after returning as the best Indian all-rounder in last two seasons of IPL, the senior Pandya portrayed all of those skills in grand style in a grander stadium of Eden Gardens to announce his arrival with a 9-ball 21* and 1/15. His first touch on the ball may have been a misfield but his fielding skills too impressed everyone as the series progressed. Krunal may not have that extra flair like his younger brother does, but he is no less a cricketer. His lower-order batting and left-arm spinners will give India the luxury to field three specialist medium pacers in Australia, something which they have not done often in recent times.
Khaleel with the new ball
Ever since he bowled Rovman Powell with a delivery that came back in ever so slightly in the fourth ODI, the Indian think tank started to look at Khaleel Ahmed differently. The result was being awarded the new ball on his T20 debut at Kolkata despite the presence of Jasprit Bumrah, India’s regular new-ball bowler in limited overs cricket. The left-arm medium pacer from Rajasthan responded with an economical 1 for 16 in four overs – three of those being in the powerplay. He took his game a notch higher couple of nights later by striking twice with the new ball at Thiruvananthapuram. He got a bit of stick from Nicholas Pooran at Chennai in the third T20I but there too he was trusted with the new ball and he made it curl back into the right-hander on a few occasions. Khaleel bowled 8 of his 12 overs in the powerplay going at a shade over six runs an over. If he continues the same in Australia, it would give India the luxury to hold Bumrah back for latter part of the innings.
Pant, the T20 batsman
It was always about when than how about Rishabh Pant as an international T20 cricketer. The man who burst onto the scene with some breathtaking knocks in the IPL and showed his big hitting in Test matches had somehow failed to replicate it in T20Is. For the first time in his short career, Pant was given a permanent No. 4 slot in the entire series. The Delhi stumper who disappointed in the first two games, made it count in the third match at Chennai, smashing 58 off 38 balls that included a one-handed six off Kieron Pollard. The middle order has been like an Achilles heel for India in limited overs cricket. That one Pant knock certainly did not put a full stop to the problem but it did a lot to boost Pant’s confidence. After all, he is now India’s No. 1 Test keeper and the front-runner to replace MS Dhoni in the limited overs.
