India vs Australia, 1st T20I: Hardik Pandya’s batting unparalleled assault goes in vain as bowlers stumble – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India’s batting game plan off late has been to hit everything out of the park to score a massive amount of runs and give the bowlers that much of leeway to make a fist of it. The first part of the plan came good in the first of the three T20 Internationals against Australia at the I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday night, but the second part, once again, was found to be woefully short.

While there has been a lot of talk about how the Indian middle-order has not been delivering when needed, the stark truth is that any bowling attack that can’t defend 208 runs evidently has a lot to answer for. As for the batter, at least on this day did what was expected of them, with Hardik Pandya leading an unparalleled run-riot, even which didn’t give the bowlers enough to defend.

Pandya, when in his elements, is something else altogether. Time and again, he has come into the match with India either needing quick runs, or needing to chase down a stiff target and more often than not, he has hammered home his batting power.

Tuesday evening in Mohali was no different.

Coming in with India at 103/3 in 11.5 overs when Rahul left, Pandya and Yadav kept finding the boundary in sensational fashion. Once Yadav left, Pandya took over the batting reins to clatter the Australian bowlers to all corners, his efforts culminating with three consecutive sixes off the last three balls of the inning as he ended with 71 not out of just 30 balls, with seven boundaries and five sixes, at a strike rate of 236.7.

The Indian top-order somehow invariably contrives to see that only one out of three actually get big runs. It is quite a statement that the top batters – Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli – among the best in the business anywhere, can’t be all seen scoring consistently.

In the Asia Cup, by and large it was Kohli who delivered more of than not, while Rahul was anywhere near as effective as he was on Tuesday. As for Sharma, he seems to reach these high 20s and low 30s and precious little beyond.

Sharma has not been batting as long at the top of the order as the team would ideally like, so there is always at least one wicket, if not two, that go down during the Powerplay. Quite strange, considering that those six overs are the ones to be really capitalised on, especially by a batter of his calibre.

Also, Rahul was dismissed right when he didn’t need to go, to a shot which was simply not merited with the fielding placed by Aaron Finch. But that is also something we’ve seen before.

But invariably these issues get brushed under the carpet when the team manages to crack the 200-run target in 20 overs.

Even though often India have fallen short of this in the recent past, there was little to complain about in Mohali as the top and middle-order saw runs coming and gave the bowlers quite a considerable target to defend.

Rahul, it seems, has opted to go on the attack and it worked wonders for him this time around. His very hesitant and ineffective approach of the Asia Cup seems to be a thing of the past, or at least was in this match. He went on the offensive right from the beginning, making maximum use of the pace provided by the Australian fast bowlers, both Josh
Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, and also Cameron Green.

If there was one bowler that he and the rest of the Indian batters had to give some respect to, that was the unassuming Nathan Ellis. But the rest, including the spinners, were carted around enough for India to get a big total.
Suryakumar Yadav, coming in after Kohli left cheaply, did what he does best – play the angles.

There are few batters in India more gifted in terms of making the unorthodox look authentic like Yadav. His ability to use his super-flexible and powerful wrists to find some angles which the rest can only dream about make him one of the most difficult to bowl at.

Yadav’s 46 off 25 at a strike rate of 184 was just the kind of undercard to the big show in the Indian batting – that knock by Pandya.

A few questions do crop up here. In Pandya, India have a finisher like no one else, so what exactly is Dinesh Karthik’s role? Especially when he is sent in to bat even after Axar Patel. Surely it cannot be that Karthik has to bat only five overs, and not one ball extra?

Also, if this is the combination, and this is how Rahul, Yadav and Pandya bat, exactly where does Rishabh Pant fit into the scene? As things stand, not one of the batters among these three will be moved from their slots. Unless Pandya is demoted and Karthik is benched. The latter is a distinct possibility but the former is a bad idea, in his current form.

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