T20 World Cup: Kohli heroics still talk of town as India faces Netherlands

Messages continue to fly thick and fast. Random people spot the T20 World Cup 2022 accreditation around your neck and walk across with a big grin. ‘What a match! What an innings! What a victory!’

The Virat Kohli-inspired conquest, against all odds, of Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is still the talk of the town here in Australia. Be it at the grocery store, the airport or the restaurant, the Indian diaspora in Sydney, India’s next stop, simply can’t have enough of dissecting the game, discussing the victory, eulogising Kohli. To many, that four-wicket win is an end in itself, not a means to the final destination.

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Can’t underestimate the Netherlands

The Indian team, however, doesn’t belong to that bracket. It can’t afford to, naturally. They know the pitfalls of getting carried away, the dangers of believing that the task is all but done when it has only just begun. Pakistan was just the first stop in a longer journey, and that’s precisely the message that has percolated down the ranks. They have shut themselves off from the hype and hoopla, relishing the fact that they sneaked home in a contest they had no business winning but alive to the reality that those two points alone don’t guarantee anything.

Next up for Rohit Sharma’s buoyant men is a face-off against the Netherlands, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday (October 27) evening. On the face of it, this should be a breeze, a walk in the park, but that’s not how sport, any sport, plays out. Victories are not attained on paper, and underestimating any opponent is usually an invitation to disaster.

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The Netherlands took the scenic route to the T20 World Cup Super 12s, coming through a difficult draw in Group A of the first round. They got their campaign going with victories against fellow Associates UAE and Namibia but were forced to settle for second best after losing their final game to Sri Lanka. This isn’t their first T20 World Cup as a team, though it is for several of their players, who will seek to draw inspiration from the exploits of the Class of 2009, which stunned England at Lord’s in the second edition of the T20 World Cup.

The Dutch had fancied their chances of an upset to kick off their Super 12 campaign after restricting Bangladesh to 144 for eight in Hobart on Monday, but paceman Taskin Ahmed fired out Vikramjit Singh and Bas de Leede with the first two balls of their chase. As hard as Colin Ackermann tried with a 48-ball 62, he found the target a bridge too far as Netherlands were bowled out for 135 off the last ball of their innings to go down by nine runs.

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There’s one of two ways the Dutch can look at the result – that they looked a gift horse in the mouth, or that they stretched one of the full members to the hilt. One suspects they will harp on the positives and hope to build on it against Rohit’s men, from whom they can expect no let-up in intensity or intent.

Rohit-Rahul pair has to fire

India will do their homework and be aware of what to expect from the Netherlands, but as is their wont, their focus will be more internal. Victory against Pakistan owed itself to a competent bowling display in admittedly helpful conditions and extraordinary batting from Kohli, well backed up by Hardik Pandya, but there continue to be question marks over the openers. Rohit and KL Rahul haven’t had the best run as a combination since coming together for the first time this year at the Asia Cup in August-September and will view this as an excellent opportunity under not great pressure to find their feet ahead of the stiffer battles in wait.

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Their no-longer new-found philosophy to batting, built around aggression, comes with attendant risks and both the skipper and his deputy are aware of that, but even so, they will look for more meaningful returns than a partnership average of 28.1, courtesy a grand total of 281 runs in 10 innings.

Only twice in those 10 outings has the opening pair put on more than 50 – 54 in the Super 4 match against Pakistan at the World Cup and 96 against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram late last month. There have been four single-digit stands and even individually, they will feel there is plenty of room for improvement. This year, Rohit averages 24.72 and strikes at 140.93 in 24 games that have brought him just 544 runs, while Rahul’s average is better at 31 but his strike rate is a more modest 128 in 11 games.

While they have been dismissed by bowlers of various hues, there is a discernible problem against left-arm pacers. Rohit has fallen to that angle 19 times in his career, and Rahul has a strike rate of just 118.18, so clearly that’s something teams with left-arm quicks will seek to attack them with. The Netherlands possess the reasonably experienced Fred Klaasen, who has taken 25 wickets in 14 T20Is, and it will be a good test of Rohit and Rahul’s preparedness ahead of the more challenging battles that definitely are in store.

It’s difficult to see India using this game as a glorified net session. Many of the batsmen didn’t get adequate game-time against Pakistan, while both Pandya and Mohammed Shami are gluttons for bowling in match situations. In any case, Shami has only played one competitive match in the last three and a half months and needs more miles in the legs. The fact that, barring R Ashwin, none of the bowlers hit the nets in Sydney – Tuesday was an optional training day and India didn’t practice on Wednesday – means they are all well rested and should be raring to have a crack at the Netherlands batting group.

That this match will be played on the same strip as the Bangladesh-South Africa fixture earlier in the evening should bring India’s spinners into play a little more than normal at a venue always known to assist the slower bowlers. The Netherlands have their work cut out, but India will not arrive thinking that merely turning up will guarantee them full points.

Hello Sydney 👋

We are here for our 2⃣nd game of the #T20WorldCup! 👏 👏#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/96toEZzvqe

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 25, 2022