India look to tame Afghans

Colombo, September 19: Even taking into account the fact that Twenty20 is a great leveller in the game of cricket, minnows Afghanistan will not be expected to trouble India much as the two Asian neighbours lock horns in a Group ‘A’ opener of the World T20 here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.

In their few brushes with major teams since their arrival on the international stage, Afghanistan have run into India only once before – during the last World T20 in the West Indies in 2010 – when MS Dhoni’s men emerged a comfortable seven-wicket victors. It’s nothing more than a coincidence that both teams are meeting again to kick-off their respective campaign and the game will serve the same purposes it did in the previous edition.

While Afghanistan have everything to gain from this contest – whether it’s picking things from their better skilled counterparts or getting an idea about the quality of the game at this level – for India it will provide a chance to get the team combination right ahead of stiffer battles. Quite obviously, ironing out a few chinks in their bowling, especially at the death, would be on top of team think-tank’s mind.

Notwithstanding their impressive effort against Sri Lanka in the opening warm-up match, when they bowled out the hosts for 120 after scoring 146, the inability to defend 185 against Pakistan on Monday has definitely added to the team’s concerns.

Come to think of it, bowling at the death has been India’s Achilles’ heel for as long as one can remember, a fact not lost on skipper Dhoni. Though he admitted that bowling has been a bit of a concern, the Jharkhandi maintained that India would stick to their tried and tested policy of seven batsmen and four bowlers.

While India may have enjoyed success on many occasions with this combination, it’s not a strategy fraught without any risks. Going in with four specialist bowlers means you have to rely on part-timers to complete the fifth bowler’s quota, and if one of the regulars has an off day then you are in for some serious trouble.

Dhoni, however, pointed out a reason for packing the side with seven batsmen, a policy India have been following for many years. “If you see, in our batting line-up, there are quite a few players who like to go and express themselves which means they may take the bowlers on right from the very first or second delivery which means they would like to have the cushioning of that extra batsman.

But as I said, it’s something we would like to start off with and if the batsmen keep putting up scores consistently on the board, then we may look for five specialist bowlers and a few part-timers,” he reasoned.

The onus thus will be on Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathi Balaji and R Ashwin to deliver the goods. A good outing for the quartet against Afghanistan in itself isn’t an indicator that everything is fine but if Nawroz Mangal’s side can conjure up a decent total, it will only add to Dhoni’s worries. Batting, though, should be the least of concerns given the form of a few players in the side.

Without discounting the recent struggles of the opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, India’s batting appears to be in safe hands. Obviously, Virat Kohli offers the biggest assurance but the return-to-form of Rohit Sharma has to be equally encouraging for the team management which has backed the Mumbai batsman to the hilt. Given the proven credentials of Suresh Raina and Dhoni in this format, India can rest easy for the moment.

Teams (from): India: MS Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Lakshmipathi Balaji, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Dinda, Piyush Chawla.

Afghanistan: Nawroz Mangal (capt), Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbodin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Javed Ahmadi, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nasim Baras, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran.

Match officials: Asad Rauf (Pak) and Simon Taufel (Aus); Third umpire: Aleem Dar (Pak); Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL).