By Anil Kumble
June5,2009 : The Indians travel a lot, dont they. All the Indians who figure in the World T20 squad played in the second edition of the IPL that ended just two weeks ago and here they are, all set to play their opening fixture of the World T20 in England. That is the way the modern game goes and no one is complaining.
People do ask how the players adjust to so much cricket, how do they get themselves on to the field in different parts of the world every other day and yet strive to dish out their best. The answer is simple, players these days know when to taper off preparations and when to step it up, thus keeping themselves fresh.
Each player is handed his training schedule and it is up to him to implement it. Yes, there is usually the warm-up together, a game of football or so and an intense fielding session where the whole team works together, but its also about people training a lot on their own. In earlier times, you were considered arrogant if you went off and trained by yourself but times have changed and now you are actually encouraged to go off on your own, bat or bowl in the nets only if you want to and so on.
The focus though is never lost and right now it is only the opener against Bangladesh the team will be thinking of. Bangladesh may have lost both their warm-up matches but they did well enough against Australia and Sri Lanka to suggest they are not past their days of upsetting top teams. They took almost 200 off Australia and ran the Lankans very close. They do have a number of naturally aggressive batsmen and anyway, most of them play Tests itself as if they are T20s!
The Indian batting, is, of course, no less powerful. Rohit, especially, has been in tremendous form and it augurs well. Rohit may have succeeded in the warm-ups as an opener but, I, for one, believe that if Viru is fit, then Rohit will have to move down to three or four. It doesnt pay to tinker too much with your order in big tournaments.
The bowling too is in good hands even if some of the bowlers went for runs in the practice games. The move to have Ishant bowling the middle overs is a good one and has worked well. With a slightly older ball and the field spread, Ishant seems to be relaxed and that is important. The team think tank, who would dearly want Zaheer fit and back, will probably continue having Ishant bowling in the middle and should he strike a good partnership with a spinner at the other end, it will be of great help to the side.
Yes, even in T20, bowling partnerships are crucial even if it maybe for just two or four overs. If you manage to follow up one good over with another, the other side could well lose their way and the plot.
Dhonis boys though dont look as if they will lose the plot with most things suggesting that they have a very good chance of retaining the title. Its only a question of taking it one match at a time.
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