Focus on top-order as India take on Nepal for first time

There were a couple of things India did right in their first Asia Cup 2023 encounter against Pakistan after quite a few things didn’t go as planned, and all this despite just one innings being possible due to persistent rain. The bottom line is both India and Pakistan walked away with a point each, and the Men in Blue’s next clash against Nepal on Monday (September 4) becomes a must-win for the side. 

Let’s talk about what India did right against Pakistan. Not much, to be honest, except for Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya. The two batters, from Nos. 5 and 6, put on 138 runs for the fifth wicket and saved India from an embarrassment. If not for these two, India would have been blown by Pakistan’s formidable pace attack. 

Kishan slammed 82 off 81, while Pandya crafted 87 off 90 after the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer perished within 15 overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur didn’t do much either, but the lower-order got some batting time, and that could help India in the longer run.

Also read - 'Unique' Pandya, scintillant Ishan and incessant rain

Rohit and Co. would now be up against Nepal, who lost their first game by 238 runs. This will be the first time these two neighbouring countries will be playing against each other at the international level, but don’t be surprised if we get another No Result in Pallekele. 

Things to watch out for

India’s top-order

India’s top three - Rohit, Gill and Kohli - looked almost clueless against the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf and were back in the hut before the 15th over. These three have been amongst runs of late but haven’t quite been able to stamp their authority against quality attacks. However, you would expect them to come good against Nepal. 

Talking about Gill, the young opener is averaging 60.29 after 28 ODIs, but the majority of his runs have come against New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The right-hander averages 26.67 against South Africa (three games), 22.5 against Australia (four games) and ten against Pakistan (one game). What’s more, Gill has only one 50-plus score in his last seven innings and is averaging 27.57.

Having scored 10 off 32 against Pakistan, the Indian team management would want Gill to get back amongst runs against Nepal and get his confidence back, something Kohli would want to do as well. The 34-year-old is averaging 36.65 in 22 ODIs since 2022, and that number would drop to 25 if you take out that series against Sri Lanka in which he amassed 283 runs in three innings. In this period, Kohli has 13 innings where he has scored less than 20, and that’s way too below-par for someone of his calibre. 

Meanwhile, Rohit's problem has been that he hasn’t been able to convert starts. The Indian skipper has crossed the 10-run mark in each of his last 13 ODI innings but has gone past the 40-run mark only four times. Rohit has changed his approach in the last year or two, going hard in the powerplay, but that can’t be an excuse for throwing away his wicket after getting a start. 

Hopefully some game-time for Indian bowlers

The entire second innings was washed out against Pakistan, meaning the Indian bowlers didn’t get a chance to test their skills against a quality batting line-up. India will be without Jasprit Bumrah against Nepal as the fast bowler has returned to Mumbai for personal reasons. The 29-year-old, however, is expected to be back for the Super Fours of the 2023 Asia Cup.

Also read - The knotty bowling-combination puzzle India can’t solve

Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul have had good numbers in ODIs since 2022, but they would still hope to get some game-time on Monday. Jadeja too hasn't played too many ODIs of late and the management would want to see how he fares in this format. 

Pitch and conditions

The surface in Pallekele is two-paced, and we got to witness that during the India-Pakistan match. There will be some movement on offer with the new ball, while the spinners will also get a good amount of turn, but the run-scoring won’t be impossible. We saw what Kishan and Pandya did once they applied themselves. India scored 266 despite being reduced to 66/5.

Pallekele has hosted 10 ODIs since 2022, and the batters here have scored runs at an average of 29.7 and a scoring rate of 5.5, while a wicket has fallen every 32.6 deliveries. The average first-innings score in this time period has been 275. In the bowling department, fast bowlers (average 28.2, strike rate 30) have better numbers than spinners (average 36, strike rate 41.9) in this period.  

The problem, though, is that the weather forecast for Monday isn’t great. There is an 80 percent chance of rain in Pallekele, and we could witness yet another wash-out encounter. 

Tactical nous

Left is not right for Kohli. Since 2022, the right-handed batter has an average of 66.75 and a strike rate of 113.9 against right-handed bowlers (right-arm pace, off-spin and leg-spin), compared to 16.58 and 78.7 against left-arm bowlers (left-arm pace, left-arm spin and left-arm wrist spin). Nepal have a left-arm spinner in Lalit Rajbanshi and could target Kohli early in his innings. 

Probable XIs

India - Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna/Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Nepal - Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.