Cricket Xtra: Sub-continent sides fail to perform

Ajit Vijaykumar 08:50 28/03/2016
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  • Disappointment: Pakistan's Umar Akmal.

    This edition of the World T20 has not been kind to teams from the subcontinent. Three out of the four Asian sides have been knocked out in the group stage and hosts India had to move heaven and earth to make the cut.

    Admittedly, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were not in top form, while Bangladesh suffered some injury setbacks and forced player exclusions but the overall performance of the Asian teams were underwhelming even by conservative expectations.

    Pakistan, on paper, had a decent squad and even though they weren’t hitting peak form coming into the tournament, I expected individual brilliance to bring about positive results at the World T20.

    They started off superbly against Bangladesh, scoring more than 200 but it was all downhill after that. Shahid Afridi’s men were then undone by India’s spin twins Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on a raging turner in Kolkata. They did offer a glimmer of hope in the first five overs of their chase against the Kiwis in their next game in Mohali but fell well short in the end.

    Many expected their bowlers to come to the party at some point, with a sensational attack compris- ing Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz. But Pakistan’s bowling failed spectacularly in their crunch game against Australia and even a fine batting effort while chasing, in which they reached 172, saw Pakistan fall 21 runs short of the target.

    Not a lot was expected from Sri Lanka as their build-up to the tour- nament had been utterly chaotic. Uncertainty over the captaincy and fitness of pace ace Lasith Malinga, form of players like Tillakaratne Dilshan and their overall drop in results meant that no one gave the Lankans a ghost of a chance to defend their title.

    Their performances were not alarmingly poor but on expected lines. Sri Lanka’s batsmen had no answers to the leg spin of Samuel Badree against the West Indies and that dented their confidence. The late charge by Angelo Mathews in the all-important match against England in Delhi summed up the Islanders’ challenge – full of hope but badly hamstrung.

    As far as the Tigers are concerned, they entered the tourna- ment with genuine hope even if they had to fight their way through the qualifiers. They gave a good account of themselves against
    Australia and should have won their epic with India.

    But against Pakistan in the opening game and against the rampant Kiwis in their last match, Bangladesh were taken apart. The injury woes of left-arm quick Mustafizur Rahman and the bowling ban midway in the tournament of Taskin Ahmed didn’t allow them to field their best side in all games and that played a part in their inability to register a single win.

    And then there is India. The hosts were the overwhelming favourites at the start of the competition but a crushing defeat at the hands of New Zealand on a dry Nagpur pitch stunned the cricketing world. Pakistan were brushed aside with ease but Bangladesh proved a bit too difficult to overpower. It was Virat Kohli’s individual brilliance against Australia that sealed their semi final spot after the Indians looked well and truly out of contention.

    The top order of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma was in peak form before the World T20 began but that big innings has failed to materialise in the tournament. Ashwin and Jadeja should have been almost unplayable but that hasn’t been the case either.

    On paper, this should not have been the scenario. The conditions provided should have been right down the alley of subcontinent teams.

    While most sides have improved their game enough to adapt to conditions quickly and are well equipped nowadays to handle any situation, it still doesn’t fully explain how India were clueless against New Zealand on a raging turner; why Bangladesh were shot out for 70 against the Kiwis on a slow Kolkata surface; how Pakistan were undone on the flat Mohali wicket by New Zealand and Australia; or why Sri Lanka couldn’t tackle Badree and Suleiman Benn in Bangalore.

    Granted, T20 is a format that reduces the gap between any two sides but the wickets have been so loaded in favour of the traditional strengths of subcontinent teams, that should have compensated for any deficiencies in their playing XI. However, what we got was one team making it to the knockouts after a mad dash to the finish line.

    I feel the Asian teams had it ingrained in them that T20 means flat tracks where 180-200 is the norm. They didn’t expect such a variety of wickets and most failed to change their game in time.

    Visiting sides came to India expecting the worst and capitalised on the lackadaisical attitude of the ‘local’ boys.

    Pakistan regularly got their selection and batting line up wrong, India’s top order repeated the same mistakes and didn’t bat with any intent, the Lankans were simply hoping for the best after Malinga went out of the picture while Bangladesh were the most earnest but fell short at critical moments.

    This World T20 is as much about the ability of New Zealand to read the conditions better, of the West Indies playing as one unit and surprising us with their carefree cricket, of England’s batsmen doing better their than own bowlers in limited overs cricket – which has generally not been the case – as it is about the below par efforts of the Asian teams.

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