In Stats: Dhoni Was Right, The Batsmen Let India Down

The Indian juggernaut came crashing to a halt in the opening match of the ICC World T20 2016. India, who had won each of their last seven T20 Internationals, were considered favourites heading into the competition. On Tuesday though, India caved in against a spirited New Zealand side, to be bowled out for 79 – their second-lowest total in T20Is and their lowest total at home.

After being given the opportunity to bowl first, the Indian team did very well in restricting the visitors to a modest 126-7. Indian captain MS Dhoni played his cards just right when he got Ravichandran Ashwin to open the bowling, and realising that the surface had plenty in it for the spinners, got Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja to bowl four overs each.

Raina’s four-over spell was a treat to watch; for someone who doesn’t bowl that frequently in international cricket, the UP lad did a job better than was expected of him. Despite having to bowl his quickish off-breaks to some of the most dangerous players in the New Zealand ranks, Raina finished with impressive figures of 4-0-16-1 and was the only Indian bowler to not concede a single boundary on the night.

At the half-way stage, MS Dhoni and the Team India contingent must have been happy with their effort. But, the emotions in the dressing room would have turned from joy to concern in a matter of a few minutes as India slumped to 12 for 3 in the third over and further slipped to 42 for 6 before the half-way stage.

Chasing targets as modest as 127 can often be tricky. In such chases all the batting team needs is one partnership early on to put the pressure on the fielding side. India didn’t get that; the highest partnership in the Indian run-chase was 30 runs and that didn’t come till MS Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin got together for the eighth wicket.

MS Dhoni wasn’t wrong when he said at the press conference “the batsmen let the team down”. What was the need for Shikhar Dhawan to play a sweep shot in the first over of the chase? It was written on the Quint a few days ago (http://www.thequint.com/sports/2016/03/11/in-stats-does-shikhar-dhawan-need-to-step-up-his-game) that Dhawan needed to apply himself better; alas, he didn’t get that message.

For someone who is as gifted and blessed as Rohit Sharma, what was the need to charge down the wicket to Mitchell Santner on a spinner-friendly wicket? India have done well in the recent past because the top three have done well, but that was not to be on Tuesday as both the openers were back in the hut before three overs had been bowled attempting what can be termed rash strokes.

What also cost India was the inability of the batsmen to turn the strike over, especially against the Kiwi spinners. Indian batsmen are known to play spin very well. But it was surprising to see them struggle against this Kiwi spin attack, which wouldn’t have bowled too often on such spinner-friendly tracks. How else could one explain allowing Mitchell Santner (4-0-11-4) get away with bowling 16 dot deliveries and Ish Sodhi bowl 14 dot deliveries in his spell of 4-0-18-3.

In the final analysis, New Zealand’s spinners picked up 9 wickets in the Indian innings – making it only the third occasion in the history of T20 Internationals where spinners had picked up nine wickets in an innings – and led their team to a famous victory.