Spotlight on India’s death bowling as Australia look to seal series

Australia

Big picture

At this point in time, the Indian cricket team’s situation mirrors life: no sooner have you overcome a challenge than the next one crops up.

After India successfully sorted out their batting, with their top order now looking for boundaries straightaway, they would have thought it was time to breathe easy. But lately, their death bowling has started giving them headaches.

Since January 2022, 33 bowlers have bowled 20 or more overs at the death in T20 cricket. Among those, Harshal Patel (10.45) has the tenth-worst economy rate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is somewhere in the middle with 9.54.

In the first match of the ongoing series, India posted 208 for 6, their highest T20I total against Australia. During their chase, Australia needed 55 from the last four overs but wrapped up the game with four balls still left in the bank.

Yes, the Mohali pitch was flat, the outfield lightning and the boundaries tiny, but there was hardly any dew. If India didn’t have the services of Jasprit Bumrah, Australia too were without David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

India, though, have solutions in sight for the T20 World Cup, if not this series. Once Bumrah returns, it should solve half the problem. And while Arshdeep Singh is not in the squad for the Australia series, he could be tried in place of Harshal during the South Africa T20Is. With a death-overs economy of 7.16, Arshdeep is third on the aforementioned list.

Australia, meanwhile, will be pleased with their captain Aaron Finch showing signs of a return to form after a wretched time in ODIs this year. He took on Bhuvneshwar in the powerplay, smashing him for 22 off two overs to set the tone. Among other positives, Steven Smith, batting at No. 3 for the first time since last October, hit a 24-ball 35, and Matthew Wade once again demonstrated his finishing skills with an unbeaten 45 off 21 balls.

The visitors will be looking to seal the series in Nagpur itself, which will be another big boost in the absence of many first-choice players.

Form guide

India LWLLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Australia WLWWW

In the spotlight

With Bumrah playing only three of India’s 27 T20Is this year, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been their regular death bowler. However, the last few games have put his this role under a scanner. In the Super 4 game against Pakistan at the Asia Cup, India were the favourites before he went for 19 in the penultimate over of the chase. In the first T20I against Australia, he conceded 15 each in the 17th and the 19th overs. Should India look to bowl him out by the 16th over?

Before this series, Cameron Green had never opened in any form of senior cricket. But he smashed four boundaries in the first four balls he faced in the first T20I and finished with 61 off 30 balls to pick up the Player-of-the-Match award. Green is not part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, but if a batting slot opens up, the selectors know who to call. Friday will be another opportunity to further stake his claim.

Team news

If fully fit, Bumrah should replace Umesh Yadav for India. The hosts could also consider bringing in R Ashwin for Yuzvendra Chahal.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah/Umesh Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal/R Ashwin

Australia are likely to be unchanged, with Kane Richardson, who missed the first T20I because of a minor side niggle, still unavailable. In case they decide to rest one of Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott can come in.

Australia (probable): 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Cameron Green, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

Bowlers can expect a better outing in Nagpur than they had in Mohali. Across 12 T20Is at this venue, the average first-innings total has been 151. The last international match here was an India vs Bangladesh T20I in 2019, when Deepak Chahar registered figures of 6 for 7.

India’s practice session on Thursday was cancelled because of rain. On Friday, it’s expected to be mostly cloudy, with the temperature hovering around 25°C.

Stats and trivia

  • Nine of the 12 T20Is in Nagpur have been won by the team batting first.
  • Only 45 runs separate Rohit Sharma (3631) and Virat Kohli (3586), the top two run-getters in T20Is.
  • Bhuvneshwar and Chahal have 84 T20I wickets each – the most for India in the format.
  • Hazlewood is two short of 50 T20I wickets. If he gets there on Friday, in what will be his 32nd T20I, he will better Mitchell Starc’s Australian record of 40 matches.

Quotes

“I do not bat much in the nets, I practise separately, but from whatever I have faced, I can say Harshal Patel’s slower balls and his other variations are very deceptive. He has been working really hard on it. He has just come back from an injury, so let’s give him some benefit of that.”
Suryakumar Yadav on if it has become easier to pick Harshal’s slower balls

“Having some good experience playing in India, finishing off games, understanding how it flows and how to play, or when it kind of lines up in front of you. There can be an advantage of batting second in Indian conditions. That was a good experience, the IPL, to have drawn on the other night out there in the middle.”
Tim David on his IPL experience coming handy

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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