New Delhi: After a baptism-by-fire start to their World Cup journey in Chennai, the Arun Jaitley Stadium at Delhi against Afghanistan will put Team India in a comfortable and pressure-free zone of performance before their big one against Pakistan in Ahmedabad.
From a slow turner at Chepauk which brought in sudden death at the mouth of the Indian innings and tested the skills and doggedness of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, to a wicket that had South Africa on a 400-plus run riot against the Sri Lankans, it will be different, it will be easier for a team missing star opener Shubman Gill who is yet to recover from falling platelets.
All that Rohit Sharma's boys would need to do is guard against the complacency of an easy wicket and adapt to the change in the conditions without premise. Delhi, in any case, is Virat Kohli’s home ground and after a scintillating performance at Chennai where he and KL Rahul saved the day for the team, the outing at a ground where he has a stand to his name, will be more than welcome.
The unfortunate niggle of Shubman Gill will continue for Team India though Ishan Kishan would now have realized that to seal his place and viability in the team he would need a less flashy and more stable performance, something that he killed by unrequired flamboyance at Chepauk.
The name that keeps coming to mind as an alternative is Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) with his known 360-degree capabilities in run-building, but he has strangely been resting on the bench till now.
After Kishan’s and Shreyas Iyer’s cavalier batting plunged India into a mess of three ducks in a row for just two runs at Chepauk, one wonders why the management will not pick SKY to protect and add to India’s fortunes.
This would also give him some match practice before the big game against Pakistan at 'Motera' unless that too is meant for Kishan in the continued absence of Shubman Gill who is likely to miss the Pakistan game too due to platelet weakness.
The Afghans, on the other hand, are trying to find their way in this World Cup after their disastrous show against Bangladesh. Even though the Jaitley pitch is nothing like Chepauk, Rashid Khan continues to be their poster boy of the game even though the relevance of spinners like him gets reduced on a belter like Delhi.
For India, too, as skipper Rohit Sharma had said at his pre-match presser in Chennai, the bowling unit selection would be tailored to
the conditions at various stadia. So, a three-spinner option will not be viable which means the senior one among the turners, R Ashwin, may sit out to give Mohammed Shami a cut into the squad for Delhi.
The refurbished Delhi ground is happy to be with sixes and enjoys the aerial trajectories across its greens. As many as 31 sixes were
hammered in the South Africa-Sri Lanka game just the other night. On a pitch full of runs and hopefully no Chennai kind of squeeze in
the offing, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli should flower and would not be required to switch to Test match batting which they did at Chepauk.
Ever since his return from injury to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, KL Rahul has been in the haloed area of high performance without fail. He has
not once given away his wicket cheaply on any occasion and the fighter in him looks determined to carry on the momentum to the rest of the tournament.
Virat Kohli, looking to surpass his idol Sachin Tendulkar in the number of ODI centuries, will not let up and is most likely to feed on
Afghanistan’s relative inexperience. He will play for himself, his team, and his fans on a track he calls “favourite” from time to time. So will
Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer, who needs to rein in his passion more than he needs to polish his game. Though a lot has been said about the vulnerability of Team India’s middle, players like Hardik and Jadeja do have the verve in them to rise to the moment and deliver game-winners.
As we just saw in Chepauk, India’s bowling, both of quicks and spinners, has become world-class. With dedicated work and amazing
performances, Indian bowlers have gained the respect and caution of master blasters from across the world, so much so that India’s legendary batters come in as question marks but seldom its bowlers. At Chepauk, with the aid of the pitch, the spinners collectively took
six wickets with Ravindra Jadeja leading the pack with three big ones, including that of a well-settled Steven Smith.
At Delhi, it will be the quicks who would be more in demand. India leads there, too, with Jasprit Bumrah who strikes early and is mostly a
wicket or two up by his second over. Then there is Mohammad Siraj, ICC’s No 1 quick, who may not have got a wicket at Chennai but did the more important role of bowling with precision and curtailing a run burst.
The Jaitley stadium might see Shami making a go at Afghan batters who, incidentally, can’t be underrated though form has been unkind
to them in the near past. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, too, could not add much to a dismal 156 against Bangladesh. This time, they
should be hungry enough to make things interesting. Then Afghanistan has Rashid as almost a permanent player in the squad. He comes into the game with the experience of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his own relentless pursuit of wickets.
All in all, it will be a popcorn and cola outing but thrillers can often appear from nowhere, and just before the clash against Pakistan a win will matter as much as a loss will to the Indians.
Also read: Cricket World Cup: Shubman Gill discharged; still doubtful for Pakistan clash
