Sehwag: India have no room for mistakes against Australia

Virender Sehwag 08:14 27/03/2016
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  • Crunch time: India can’t afford to take their foot off the pedal.

    The scorecard says that India beat Bangladesh in Bangalore. But we didn’t defeat them. It was Bangladesh who lost the game and gave us an opportunity to fight for a spot in the semi-finals on a platter. We misfielded quite a bit, dropped catches and that’s why he had to play catch up during the Bangladesh chase. But I laud the efforts of the bowlers who fought hard and came back well towards the end. It didn’t look like India would win, even while defending 11 runs from the last over.

    That game reminded me of India’s match against Australia in the 1992 World Cup. Then, we needed 13 runs from the final over and there too a wicketkeeper Kiran More struck two boundaries early in the over (Mushfiqur Rahim two boundaries against Hardik Pandya in Bangalore). But he got out the next delivery and India lost that match by one run. Bangladesh panicked in a similar manner this time. If they had showed a little bit of common sense and kept their cool, they could have easily won the match. But luck was with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the Indian team. However, the Indians will need to raise their game substantially against Australia. They will have to bat, bowl and field with intensity. If they play the same way as they did against Bangladesh, then they will have a tough time against the Aussies.

    Then one aspect where the Indian team can definitely up their game is batting. They have not been as aggressive with the bat as they can be.

    They have to play fearlessly. The openers have not been giving a good start to the team, which is a concern. We are capable of finishing strongly with the bat but the top order needs to click.

    The fielding too needs to tighten up against Australia. You cannot afford three dropped catches and misfielding against them. We need to be on the money for the entire 40 overs. If we are good for 39 and have one bad over, that can cost us dearly.

    When it comes to the team’s composition, I am still not convinced by Pandya’s role. No doubt, he bowled the crucial final over against Bangladesh but I still stick to my stand that there has to be another regular spinner in the team. Pandya is talented but given the nature of wickets in this World T20, the team must include either Harbhajan Singh or Pawan Negi.

    Our batting is doing an ok job but we need to have five genuine bowlers who will give the captain four overs each.

    In that case, you don’t need to rely on part-time spinners like Suresh Raina or Yuvraj Singh. Just imagine if we had Harbhajan in the game against Bangladesh. Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowled beautifully on a helpful track and if Bhajji had also been there, maybe the match would have finished much earlier.

    One player I would watch out for Sunday is Shane Watson. He has announced his retirement from international cricket and I congratulate him for a stellar career.

    I am glad for him personally and think he will play with complete freedom now. He doesn’t have to play for his place in the team anymore as there is no pressure of justifying his selection and that will allow Watson to perform the way he wants to.

    As a team, Australia are settling down nicely. They have brought back Aaron Finch at the top of the order along with Usman Khawaja, which is a very good move. David Warner batting at No3 is also an excellent decision because if he gets to bat most of the 20 overs, he can even score a ton.

    Watson batting lower down the order has given them a lot of solidity in the middle. He scored 44 from 21 balls against Pakistan and that was a crucial innings which helped his team put up a big total.

    However, their bowling shouldn’t worry the Indian batsmen a lot as they are used to it now. We tackled guys like Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa with ease in the three-match series in Australia. James Faulkner did pick up five wickets but their bowling as a whole still doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

    In Sunday’s crucial match, I would like the Indian team to bat first and put the runs on board. It would allow our batsmen to get their eye in and build the innings. If after 12-13 overs they have a good foundation and wickets in hand, they can put up a big total.

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