RAHUL Dravid and Rohit Sharma would have ticked most boxes and made up their minds over almost the entire playing XI for the semi-final against England on Thursday. But there is still one spot about which they will have to contemplate a lot.
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Will they go with experience over the youngster everyone wants to see in the team. Dinesh Karthik vs Rishabh Pant. The team has gone all out to back the 37-year-old Karthik behind the stumps while experts and pundits would like to see Pant in the playing eleven.
It’s a hard choice to make, especially since the semi-final will be played at the Adelaide Oval. The track won’t be fresh and conditions will suit India more. The field isn’t as big as other Australian grounds, the square boundaries especially are much shorter than the straight ones.
So will a left-handed batsman be drafted in or will Karthik continue? If Karthik continues, the Indian team won’t have to alter its batting order. But if Pant makes it to the side, Hardik Pandya will have to bat at number six.
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In the nets, Karthik was the last batsman who went out to bat while Pant was the second in after Virat Kohli. The left-hander was in a belligerent mood and played strokes all over the dial.
Karthik faced Shardul Thakur in the nets along with several local net bowlers. The team management has gone with a fixed line-up throughout the tournament and doesn’t believe in changing the side because the world wants it to.
The team gave Pant a chance against Zimbabwe because as per Sharma, he hadn’t played on the tour except the two warm-up games in Perth. The team wanted him to have some game time to have a ready option, if required.
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Pant scored just 3 against Zimbabwe while Karthik in four games managed 1, DNB, 6 and 7 runs. In the first game against Pakistan, he walked out in the last over where he faced just two balls. Against South Africa in Perth, he walked out in the ninth over while against Bangladesh he came out in the 16th.
Sharma was non-committal about who the team will go for in the semi-final? “I think I won’t be able to tell you right now, but both of the ‘keepers will be in play for sure.”
Time for skipper to deliver
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However, apart from deciding on the wicket-keeper, the team will be hoping that Sharma himself clicks on the big stage. The skipper – barring a half-century against the Netherlands – has had a quiet tournament.
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The Indian top order has performed in patches, and the team needs Sharma to come to the party. Apart from Kohli who is in rich form, KL Rahul took time to fire at the top, but Sharma has been inconsistent. Suryakumar Yadav has been the face of Indian batting in this tournament.
Sharma himself doesn’t fret too much about his record in knockout matches?
“For us, I think, not just for me but for the players, what they’ve done in their entire career doesn’t define them by just one knockout game. The entire year, you work so hard to get where you want to and to do well in whichever format you play. So that one particular game is not going to decide that,” the captain felt.
However, if India needs to beat England, they need their top players to lift their game. Many of them may not be part of the side when the next T20 World Cup arrives in 2024. Their bowlers will also be boosted if they have a big score behind them.
The Indian team would like to treat the semi-final as just another game, but they know they have reached a stage where there are no second chances. A win will set up a final against Pakistan, while a loss will result in major disappointment and outrage.
England skipper Jos Buttler said his team was very excited to play India in the semis. Playing a strong Indian team in front of a large crowd at one of the best stadiums in the world doesn’t happen every day.
It will be interesting to see if pacer Mark Woods, who has bowled the fastest delivery in the tournament, plays on Thursday. He has some stiffness and England will hope he turns up on the big day.
Buttler would like nothing better than to spoil the party in a sense, as most people would be hoping for a summit clash between the subcontinental rivals.
“Well, we certainly don’t want to see an India-Pakistan final, so we’ll be trying all we can do to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
For Sharma & Co, a win over England will see them flying to Melbourne, where their World Cup journey started.
