Five ways in which India can restrict AB de Villiers and company

Five ways in which India can restrict AB de Villiers and company: The opening T20I of the “Paytm Freedom Series” turned to be an exciting contest in between both the teams as anticipated. The morale must be down for India after South Africa emerged triumphant overhauling a stiff target of 200 runs in the opening T20 match of the tour in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. But, the Indian camp must be itching to hit back harder when they meet the Proteas yet again on the occasion of the must-win second T20 in Barabati Park, Cuttack today.

Here, we try to analyse five ways India can restrict AB de Villiers and company from cruising to yet another victory and seal the series.

1.Capitalize on the starts:

India failed to capitalize on the strong start provided by the top order batsmen. Until the 15th over of the innings, India looked comfortable to reach a 200 plus score with the help of the 138 run second wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma (106) and Virat Kohli (43). However, the middle order failed to make most of the opportunity. The middle order batsmen must focus on quick scoring in the death overs. A firm middle order would enable the team post more challenging totals.

2.Better bowling efforts:

The Indian bowling was very below-par and lacklustre in the previous match. All Indian bowlers except off- spinner Ravichandran Ashwin gave away runs at a rate of more than 10 runs per over. Like in the past, fast bowling, especially in the death overs, has been a worrisome issue for the Indians. Yorkers were also seldom used by the Indian pacers. This is one crucial factor which they will have improvise to win in the shortest format more often.

3.Try and contain South African batsmen:

Hashim Amla opened South Africa’s innings with the charismatic AB de Villiers in the last T20I. They batted with a purpose and launched an all-out attack on the Indian seam bowlers. Unlike India, their middle-order batsmen, especially last match’s hero J.P Duminy and Farhan Behardien capitalized the strong start and took their team across the finish line. India can quickly gain the upper hand in the series decider if the Indian bowlers, especially the new ball bowlers, manage to curb the menace of the South African openers. South Africa, as everyone knows, has no dearth of world-class hard hitters. Therefore containing them from flourishing in the match with sensible bowling would be the safest thing Indians can do to win the contest in a commanding way.

4.Explore team combinations:

It is well-known that skipper MS Dhoni doesn’t like making sudden drastic change in the playing combination most of the times. However, it would be sensible for him to try and experiment with the bowling combination. The pitch, as well as the conditions at Cuttack, is expected to favour spinners. Therefore, keeping both, the series and the upcoming T20 World cup in the mind, it would be sensible to probably replace Axar Patel with leg-spinner Amit Mishra or go with seam bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny. By doing this, MS Dhoni would have more handy options to experiment and find the winning combination.

5. Consistency:

If the past performance is looked backed, consistency seems to be a major concern for ‘men in blue.’ The statistics reveal a demoralising truth for the fans as India has managed to win only one out of the last five T20I. They have a challenging series ahead against a highly competitive side. Therefore, in order to avoid disappointing their fans, it would be sensible to say that India should try and become more consistent with their performance.