Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 17 (ANI): Ahead of his side’s final group stage ICC T20 World Cup match against the Netherlands, Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke on his side’s game against spin, particularly at Colombo against Pakistan, where the arch-rivals threw down 18 overs of spin challenge at the Men in Blue.
India will be aiming to keep their undefeated run going as they take on the Netherlands at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. So far in the tournament, India has been a mixed bag against spin and has shown more comfort while playing pacers, as evident by the numbers.
Speaking ahead of the match on India’s play against spin at Colombo, Sitanshu said, “I think we adjusted to the situation the way we decided and played good aggressive cricket. With that, I think it was smart enough also. Because, the way Ishaan played, Surya, Tilak and Shivam played, it was more or less according to our plan, it was very good.”
Against the USA’s spin attack in eight overs at Wankhede, India made 42 runs and lost three wickets, while against Namibia, they lost five wickets to spin in eight overs and scored 61 runs. The clash against Pakistan was an all-out spin attack against India, scoring 144 runs and losing six wickets in 18 overs of spin. India’s runs per over against spin in these three clashes were 5.25, 7.6 and 8, respectively.
They played out Usman Tariq’s mysterious, much-debated sidearm action, which comes with a pause, with extreme care. The bowler took a wicket and conceded just 24 runs in his quota of four overs, which included just two fours in 24 balls.
The Dutch spin attack consists of Aryan Dutt, an experienced Roelof van der Merwe, Saqib Zulfiqar, Zach Lion-Cachet and Colin Ackermann.
Squads:
Netherlands Squad: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Zach Lion-Cachet, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Fred Klaassen, Noah Croes, Saqib Zulfiqar, Paul van Meekeren, Timm van der Gugten
India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh. (ANI)
