Indian Cricket Team Openers Need to Deliver in Big World T20 Semifinal

By: Sandeep Sharma

Out of four group matches that India have played in the World T20, the highest opening partnership has come in the Bangladesh game.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, the out-of-form Indian openers, stitched a 42-run stand in the match. The second best opening score of 23 runs was made in the crucial quarterfinal match against Australia.

As India is all set to play semi-final against the West Indies on Thursday, the form of the openers has become a matter of concern.

India have failed to make a good foundation on which a winning score could be made yet. Be it batting first or second, India need a good opening partnership.

While employing the best strategy to come out of the purple patch, Dhawan stayed positive and tried to execute daring shots during his brief stay in the match against Australia.

But that wasn’t good enough for the team. Dhawan needs to spend time on the wicket before playing his strokes. Similarly, Rohit, prolific in bilateral series, is yet get back to his form.

It is important for the Indian Cricket Team that Rohit, a hugely talented batsman, plays well at the top of the order. Rohit will have the advantage of playing the semi-final match in front of his home crowd.

The openers are fortunate enough that their team management is extending support at the time of crisis. The pitch in Mumbai is likely to favour the bowlers, both the pacers as well as for the spinners, hence it may not be a flat deck like the way it was in recent matches.

So, both Rohit and Dhawan also need to ensure that India get a rousing start inside the first six overs of the match. This slam-bang version isn’t as easy as it appears, but you can play this format with a straight bat and be of some use for your team.

Virat Kohli showed in the previous game only how effectively you can bat in this format without tinkering the copy-book technique.