Rohit misses practice, Dhawan rusty at training session
Mirpur : Injuries to key players such as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma is giving them the jitters but India would still be firm favourites when they take on a depleted and struggling Sri Lanka in their penultimate league encounter of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, here on Tuesday.
Despite injuries, India have the edge against the island nation, whom they beat 2-1 in a recent home series. The reason being a possible injury to Lankan captain and primary strike bowler Lasith Malinga, whose knee problem has again flared up and has put his further participation in the tournament in doubt.
“I don’t know if Lasith will be available in the next two games as it is a fitness related issue. His injury has again flared up,” stand-in captain Angelo Mathews said after their Bangla loss. More than the challenge posed by defending World T20 champions, the Indian team will like to set their house in order as far injuries are concerned.
Skipper Dhoni is playing through pain due to the back spasms, which has prevented him from taking part in most of the training sessions. If that wasn’t enough, Shikhar Dhawan was ruled unfit before the last game against Pakistan, reportedly with a niggle in his left ankle. There is speculation that considering Dhawan’s questionable technique in conditions where the ball bounces as well as there is seam and swing, the team management found Ajinkya Rahane more reliable at the top of the order.
If Dhawan’s injury wasn’t enough, the latest blow has been Rohit Sharma getting hit on the left toe by a crushing yorker from Amir in the game against Pakistan. According to information, a precautionary X-ray has been done and luckily no fracture has been detected.But with both openers being injured, it does put a question-mark on the playing XI, which has been more or less same in the last eight T20 games.
For the record, India have won seven out of the eight games they have played this year. After the Pakistan game, the possibility of a new opening combination cannot be totally ruled out. It could well be Parthiv Patel walking alongside Rahane, in case both Rohit and Shikhar are ruled out of the Lanka tie. Parthiv has usually opened in the T20 format for most of the franchises that he has played for.
The strip used for the Sri Lanka versus Bangladesh match yesterday did not have the demons of the Indo-Pak game where there was vicious movement, which could also be credited to Amir’s individual brilliance. In case, there is less juice in the pitch, a half-fit Dhawan can also come into the picture. On pitches where there is minimum lateral movement, Dhawan’s game, based on plonking his front foot and hitting through the line, may prove to be ideal.
Virat Kohli has got into the groove with a memorable 49 against Pakistan. But Suresh Raina, who again looked suspect against fast and short balls, will like to get his confidence back, which has been badly shaken by Amir, during the torrid little time he negotiated. Yuvraj may not have got too many runs but his gritty effort had been acknowledged by none other than the skipper and he will like to get a big knock before the start of the World T20.
Ashwin praises death bowling
Mirpur : India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday lauded the team’s bowling unit, specially the pace duo of Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah for putting in their best efforts at the start and at the end of a bowling innings in recent times. The 36-year old Nehra, and 22-year-old Bumrah have swung the ball in the powerplays and then peppered the batsmen later in the innings with yorkers.
After two back-to-back Twenty20 International series victories against Australia and Sri Lanka recently, the 2007 World T20 champions have got their Asia Cup campaign on a good start, defeating hosts Bangladesh by 45 runs in the opener and following it up with a thumping five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday. This is the first time the iconic tournament is being played in the Twenty20 format. All the earlier events were One-Day International (ODI) editions.
“Our death bowling could definitely be much better than what it was in the past so that gives a lot of confidence and we can go about our middle overs with a lot more attacking instinct, to try and pick up wickets to seal things off. That’s definitely a positive, but at the end of the day, only I can help myself,” Ashwin said at the pre-match press conference ahead of their clash against Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
“I think it’s very good if you can punch as a group and especially Ashish — we all know that he is a very experienced candidate. He has come in on the back of a very good India Premier League (IPL) last year, so we know exactly what his strengths are. He can swing the ball up front and has good abilities to bowl at the death.”
