Suryakumar Yadav again showed his top notch batting, probably the best knock of his short international career but South Africa exposed India’s inadequacies against extreme pace and bounce to win a low-scoring thriller by five wickets in the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
While Surya’s 68 off 40 balls will easily qualify as one of the most accomplished knocks in adverse conditions, India’s defence of a below-par total of 133/9 was always going to be a challenge.
Arshdeep Singh, the lion-hearted left-armer, did bowl another dream first spell but Aiden Markram (52 off 41 balls) and David Miller (59 not out off 46 balls), one of the best T20 finishers in the game, ensured the target was achieved in 19.4 overs.
Meanwhile, Team India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar shared an update on Dinesh Karthik, who earlier walked off the park during the match.
After Karthik went off the park, it was Rishabh Pant, who took the keeping gloves in the dying stages of the match in Perth.
Bhuvneshwar said that Karthik was having some issues with his back and the Men in Blue are waiting for an update from the physiotherapist.
"He had some issues with his back and I didn’t meet him after the match. I'll talk to him once we go back to the hotel and wait for the physio's report," Bhuvneshwar was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.
Karthik hasn't had the best of outings in the ongoing mega event. He got out cheaply when India needed 16 runs in the last over against Babar Azam's Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Thereafter, he didn't get to bat in the match against the Netherlands where Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav scored half-centuries at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Against South Africa, Karthik had a great chance to get a big score under his belt. He came to bat after India found themselves at 42 for the loss of four wickets in 7.3 overs. However, the veteran failed to make the most of the opportunity and got out to Wayne Parnell.
The senior India speedster didn't mince words when he categorically said that “things could have been different” had Aiden Markram’s catch been taken or a couple of close run-outs been effected in the team’s defeat.
Virat Kohli dropped a dolly of Markram at deep mid-wicket off Ravichandran Ashwin when the batter was on 35.
“Yes, if you had taken those catches, it would have been different. Catches win matches and those chances, if taken could have made the difference,” Bhuvneshwar said at the post match conference.
“Not really, the catch we dropped and run out chances that we missed, I won’t say momentum shifted but it would have been different. But I won’t pinpoint any particular moment as such,” the seamer said.
Difficult track to bat on
Bhuvneshwar was sympathetic with the Indian top-order which struggled to cope with extra pace, bounce and movement.
“When it comes to batting, we all know it was a difficult wicket to bat on. If you look at the tournament so far, the par score has been around 140 and so. We believed that with 140, we had belief that we can make a match of it.”
He defended skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to give Ashwin the 18th over (his fourth) after going for 17 runs in the 14th over. The only other option Rohit had was Deepak Hooda.
“Generally, the thought is that if spinner could keep things tight, it would have been difficult for the batters in the end while facing the pacers. And if you keep a spinner at the end then it becomes easier for batting. Had we got a wicket, things could have changed,” he rued.
Unlike India, where chasing is the order of the day in T20Is due to the dew factor, conditions in Australia change from one city to another.
“That’s the beauty of Australia. In India, you try to chase as you have dew. In Australia, things change from city to city and here it was difficult chasing but it could be different in next city we go,” he added.
He didn’t want to give the extreme cold conditions as an excuse for not doing well.
“It was very difficult but we never talked about that as we knew we have to cope with those conditions. Even in Melbourne it was cold but we never talked about these things,” Bhuvneshwar concluded.
Meanwhile, South Africa (5 points 3 games) are now on top of group 2, India (4 points from 2 games) with upcoming matches against Bangladesh (Nov 2 in Adelaide) and Zimbabwe (Nov 6 in Melbourne) are well within striking distance of a semi-final berth.
