Adelaide: Ahead of their T20 World Cup semifinal against England at the Adelaide Oval on November 10, India might feel that a lot of pieces have fallen in place over the course of the tournament — except one.
It is about finding a place for Yuzvendra Chahal in the playing 11.
Chahal and Harshal Patel remain the only two players who have not played a single match in the T20 World Cup.
Let’s decode the case of Chahal. The leg-spinner was once rated as India’s primary weapon in white-ball formats and he has delivered the goods more often than not.
The 32-year-old has taken 85 wickets from 69 T20Is, and he is the most successful Indian spinner in this format.
But in the T20 World Cup, the Indian management has preferred R Ashwin and Axar Patel over Chahal, and the reason behind this is the perceived meat they provide to the team’s lower order.
Vindication for R Ashwin
Ashwin, in fact, has vindicated that thought process while making a small yet significant contribution to India’s wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh in close encounters.
Of course, this is not to say that Ashwin is a modest bowler in the T20 format. He has taken 72 wickets from 64 T20Is and his economy rate of 6.85 is among the better ones in the international circuit.
During the match against Zimbabwe, Ashwin also became the top-wicket taker among Indian bowlers in the T20 World Cup. Now, he has 23 wickets, two more than Ravindra Jadeja in the showpiece event.
So, it is unfair to say that his better prowess with the bat alone is keeping Ashwin ahead of Chahal in the World Cup.
Advantage Yuzvendra Chahal
While coming to Axar Patel, Chahal has a definite edge in the bowling department. In 36 T20Is, the left-arm spinner has taken 34 wickets and his outings in the T20 World Cup 2022 have not yielded the desired results.
From four matches in Australia, Axar has taken 3 wickets and his economy rate is on the higher side of 9. Even against Zimbabwe, he looked a tad ineffective. Zimbabwe had made just 115 all out at Melbourne and Axar’s analysis read 3.2-0-40-1.
So, will India bring on Chahal against England in the semifinal? The toss-up between the leg-spinner and Axar has another interesting angle as Chahal has an exemplary record against England in T20Is.
The 32-year-old is the highest wicket-taker for India in the T20Is against England — 16 wickets from 11 matches — with the best bowling figures of 6-25.
Tantalising prospect
It indeed is a tantalising prospect for the India management. Chahal can also exploit the large boundaries of Australia, bowling those wide of the off-stump deliveries and forcing the batsmen to stretch for their shots.
India head coach Rahul Dravid explained without committing to the cause. “We have a completely open mind about everyone in our 15. We believe anybody who comes into the 15 will not potentially make us weaker, the kind of squad we've picked. I watched some of the games (in Adelaide) and I know the tracks were slow and they gripped and they turned a bit.
“We might be playing on a completely new strip in Adelaide, and the strip we played with against Bangladesh, to be honest, did not spin. It was, again, a different kind of wicket, and it was played at Adelaide, as well.
“Of course, if it's slow we'll play according to those situations. If we think it might play differently, then we'll have to put up a squad to match that,” said Dravid.
It will be an interesting choice when it finally comes about.
