TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsA case for Chahal, finally?
Like many other non-Asian teams, England have also been at the wrong end of the guile of Indian spinners multiple times. Although that data is historical, spin-bowling would be India’s biggest asset heading into this semi-final in Guyana, one of the most spin-friendly venues in the Caribbean.
In addition, in T20Is since 2023, England have averaged 22.5 runs/wicket against right-arm leg spinners at 15 balls/wicket. Both are the lowest against any bowling type.
India have one such bowler in their squad, Yuzvendra Chahal, who also holds an excellent record versus England. Chahal has 16 T20I wickets against England in 11 matches, including his career best of 6/25. The 33-year-old has also had the wood over Jonny Bairstow (four dismissals in T20s for 55 runs) and Harry Brook (3 dismissals for 10 runs).
Chahal hasn’t played in this World Cup as yet. In fact, he is yet to play a T20 World Cup game for India. But on tactics, this is the best occasion to hand Chahal him his maiden cap.
The Men in Blue can swap him with Ravindra Jadeja who hasn’t created much of a difference with his all-round skills. On the only downside of this move, India will have a batter light in their XI.
And now onto the England openers who have scored 47.4% of England’s runs in this World Cup, the second most for any team.
Bumrah, Kuldeep to target Jos Buttler
Buttler vs Bumrah in T20s: 82 balls, 71 runs, 4 dismissals
Buttler vs Kuldeep in T20s: 63 balls, 87 runs, 3 dismissals
It is obvious that India would depend on two of their best bowlers to target England’s best, Jos Buttler.
All of Buttler’s four dismissals against Jasprit Bumrah have come outside the first six overs. However, India’s premier pacer has still managed to keep him quiet upfront, conceding only 43 runs off 57 balls in the powerplay. Considering the significance of Buttler’s wicket, India would want Bumrah to fetch his wicket this time.
If not, Kuldeep Yadav will have the England captain on his radar. The left-arm wrist spinner has dismissed Buttler with his googly, chinaman as well as his arm ball, establishing Buttler’s struggle against him.
Remember, both Bumrah and Kuldeep didn’t feature in the 2022 semi-final. England knocked India out with a 10-wicket win, to which Buttler contributed an unbeaten 80.
Slow left-arm versus Salt
Phil Salt averages 48.9 in T20Is since 2023 at a strike rate of 168.9. He has a strong affinity for pace (average 66.9, strike rate 192.6) but struggles to keep the momentum against spin (average 27.8, strike rate 125.6).
Out of his six dismissals against spin in this time frame, five have come against left-arm orthodox spin. Dissecting further, four dismissals are from deliveries turning away.
Will India bring Axar Patel early on to target Salt? The right-hander scores at a run-a-ball in the first 10 balls against this bowling type. However, for that, Arshdeep Singh’s role, as an outright swing bowler, will have to take a backseat.
Who will attack Adil Rashid?
Adil Rashid has been England’s MVP with the ball, ceasing the flow of runs against South Africa and West Indies. On Guyana’s spin-friendly track, the Indian batters will have to find a way to overcome Rashid.
They can assign the duties to their left-handers, Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube. But both batters have a dubious record against leg-spin of late.
Featuring in IPL 2024 and this World Cup, Pant has had five dismissals against leg spin, averaging 18.8. Dube, India’s spin-hitter, has been fallen to leg-spin five times in T20s this year, averaging only 14.5. Rashid strikes with his googlies and both these batters have been foxed by wrong uns in this time period.
Can Suryakumar Yadav do it? He tore into Rashid Khan in India’s first Super 8 match.
In the 2022 semi-final, India played out Adil Rashid for 1/20 in four overs. They made the mistake of sending Pant too late. The left-hander is now batting at number three and has thrown caution to the wind, helping India muster a few extra runs on low-scoring surfaces. Pant, staying mindful of the googlies, can do the same role against Rashid here. Except, he has to be at the crease when the leg spinner takes the ball after the powerplay.
Archer to Rohit
In the current setup, Jofra Archer is the only England bowler to dismiss Rohit Sharma more than once in T20 cricket. The right-arm speedster has accounted for Rohit’s wicket three times for only 17 runs in 20 balls. The numbers clearly favor Archer here who will be up against the Indian skipper with the new ball.
Two of these dismissals have been off good length deliveries with the ball moving in. Archer would relish his chance with another such delivery at the Indian opener.
Of course, England may also try the ubiquitous method of trapping Rohit into his strength — bowling short to him with a fielder in the deep fine-leg and square-leg region. This World Cup, Rohit hasn’t faced a single short ball of pace bowling in the powerplay.
How to stop Surya?
Tightening the noose on Suryakumar Yadav could be England’s biggest headache. The 33-year-old has a stupendous record against England, averaging 45.7 while striking at 191.6. He hasn’t shown major shortcomings against any bowling type and it may sound like a broken record but his capability to hit in any corner of the ground makes him a tough batter to bowl to.
To mitigate the SKY-scare, England should force him to hit into the off-side. In this World Cup, the right-hander has scored only 37% of his runs on the off-side and they have come at a run-a-ball.
In Surya’s case, bowling outside the off stump won’t suffice. Jos Buttler would need to have an extra fielder or two protecting the boundaries regions towards the on-side. If Guyana dishes out another slow track, England can take inspiration from Australia’s bowling plans to Surya in the 50-over World Cup final last year.
