A bowling lineup stacked with spinners has been India’s go-to strategy for Asia Cup games so far, just as it had been during the Champions Trophy earlier this year at the same venue, UAE, where they played all their games. Regardless of formats, India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav has found that the strategy has worked brilliantly for them, and a win against Pakistan has further cemented that belief.
India managed to beat Pakistan, thanks in large part to their spinners, who halted their archrivals for a paltry 127-run total. Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy shared six wickets between them while conceding only 60 runs in 12 overs.
“That’s what happened a few months back – our team that won the Champions Trophy, they set the tone,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation. “But I am always a fan of spinners, because they control the game in the middle and post-powerplay [overs], and I think all the spinners were amazing.”
Suryakumar demanded “Where is my cake?” the moment he sat for the press conference, as he turned 35 the same day. But what made him happier was the fact that he was able to finish off the game with a six, after scoring 47*.
“It’s a great feeling and it’s a perfect return gift for India,” Suryakumar said. “This is one box I always wanted to tick, stay there till the end, and it was the need of the hour today. And love to stay not out till the end.”
The game had a potpourri of reactions and emotions in the lead-up to it. It was the first time India and Pakistan were meeting on the field after their recent military escalation. The victory took India’s win tally to eleven in fourteen games against Pakistan, but Suryakumar said they treated the clash just like an ordinary game.
“For me, and for my boys, and for the whole team, I feel it’s just another game,” he said. “We come on the ground, we prepare for all the opposition, and that’s how we go about it.”
Kuldeep was the wrecker-in-chief for India in both their games. He has seven wickets already in two matches, after bagging three against Pakistan. Batters were visibly failing to read him, as is evident from the fact that he got two hat-trick chances, once against each side.
“You just have to think who is batting on the crease and react to what they are doing, what their strength is and what they like to play,” Kuldeep said when asked about his plans. “Just follow that, and obviously I had my plans and just executed them.”
“First ball is always wicket-taking ball, you know, you just have to go with that mindset and try to execute that wicket-taking ball,” Kuldeep said. “Because whoever is batting is obviously new on the crease or maybe set, but yeah, he’s facing you the first time in the game and probably you have the chance to get on top of him.”
Despite that, the Indian spinner said, he wants to improve his game, especially by working on trying to stay basic rather than using several weapons from his arsenal.
“I still think I need to really work on my bowling as well. Sometimes I feel that I try too many variations, but I have to learn day by day and game by game. I still think there’s a lot of room to improve in.”
