Mumbai, Feb 13: India's batting may be bulldozing past opposition bowling attacks, but unconventional spin is something they haven't been very comfortable against, and with the huge game against Pakistan coming up, they have to pull up their socks given the likes of Usman Tariq in the opposition ranks.
The defending champions were troubled to a great extent by Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus, who picked up 4/20 in his allotted four overs as he scalped the wickets of Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel.
With Colombo traditionally having slow surfaces, spin is expected to play a large factor in the outcome of the game, and with quality spinners in both the Indian and Pakistani ranks, it remains to be seen how the script plays out.
Spin challenge ahead
India will have to find a way to negotiate Tariq's unorthodox spin and bowling action, which sees him pausing before the delivery is bowled, that can upset the rhythm of the batter if not picked early.
India's star opener Kishan, however, feels they have it in them to deal with the spin threat.
"No, I think we have already done the preparation part and now it's just time to watch the ball and play our natural game. So, if the ball is there, as a batter, we just feel like going in because it's a T20 game.
"And we are trying to set a good total on board. But we do have to believe in our strength as well. There's nothing like you have to prepare. I think at this level, we just watch few videos and we get an idea of what kind of bowling is going to happen. So we're just keeping it simple," said Kishan.
Unorthodox action
However, Kishan himself acknowledged the challenges of facing a bowler who possesses a very unconventional bowling action.
"Yeah, it might play in your head for a couple of balls, but I think at this level you need to have trust in your own strength as well. Even if he is trying to do something, we can go for sixes or boundaries at the same time.
"So, the important thing is how we are thinking at that point of time when the bowler is trying to do something different," said the in-form batter.
Erasmus bamboozled the Indian batters with his wiles but, for Namibia head coach Craig Williams, who duly praised his captain, it was not much of a surprise.
"He trains incredibly hard at all these variations, and I think he plays cricket around the world in some leagues and that's, and I think that he bowls all the difficult overs, he bowls some really tough overs.
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"Tonight, again, against a world-class cricket team, he showed the world again what he's got and his execution was just really good tonight.
"His first three overs went for 16 or something like that and then to bowl that 19th over under pressure — first ball going for six and then pulling it back — was just really fantastic," added the coach.
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