Team India will take the field on Saturday to end an 11-year ICC title drought as it meets the high-flying South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados. The winning team will gain the distinction of being the first to enjoy an entire campaign unbeaten; while this will be India’s third final in the tournament, South Africa have reached the title clash in the shortest format for the first time.
India have played at the Barbados track once in the campaign, during their match against Afghanistan; the side posted its second-highest score in the edition in the game, scoring 181/8 before reducing Rashid Khan’s men to 134. The Proteas, however, will be taking the field at the venue for the first time on Saturday.
But while India have this advantage over Aiden Markram’s men, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar cautioned the side over a certain possibility as the two sides meet for the trophy. Manjrekar stated that a batting-friendly surface in Barbados could bring the seamers into play, which, he believes, has been a “bit of a weakness” for the Indian team.
“I believe if the pitch turns out very good for batting, if it is a flat deck, it will be difficult to give Jadeja four overs. India will have to turn to Hardik Pandya. That is a bit of a weakness that we saw against Australia,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
Jadeja bowled only one over in the game against the Aussies, conceding 17, while Hardik, too, proved expensive, conceding 47 without a wicket in his four overs. Manjrekar said that India could be under pressure if the surface favours batting.
“Hardik doing four overs, Arshdeep Singh is, too, coming to terms with his consistency. On flat pitch, seam bowling comes under pressure a bit. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will do four overs, but you can’t trust Jadeja. Hardik Pandya will have to rise to the occasion, Shivam Dube might have to bowl an over or two,” said Manjrekar further.
India’s performances so far
Despite a poor outing for Hardik and Jadeja with the ball during the Super Eight clash against Australia, India prevailed, thanks to a brilliant effort from Arshdeep Singh (3 wickets) and Kuldeep Yadav (2 wickets). Kuldeep also conceded only 24 runs off his four overs.
In the semi-final, India crushed England by 68 runs, with Hardik Pandya bowling only one over.
