New Delhi: The Indian cricket team’s campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 has been impressive so far as they won three out of their four group stage fixtures and a washed-out game that kept them from making it four in a row. However, keeping the New York pitch row aside, the team has been lacking in the batting department, specifically the top order.
India are to play Afghanistan in their first Super 8 clash on Thursday and it certainly won’t be an easy battle against the sprightly bunch of Afghans. The only change that comes forth for the Indian setup is the new conditions as the team shifted their camp to the Caribbean for the three Super 8 fixtures. It would be highly crucial to quickly adapt to the varies conditions as India are to play three games at three different venues in a span of five days.
Such a situation will demand extra efforts in reading the pitches and to score on these would be some job for the Indian setup, which was guilty of being too conservative in their approach in the previous two editions of T20 World Cup. However, head coach Rahul Dravid felt that the team has turned the tables on that front.
“We have actually been to be able to push the needle forward in terms of our batting there. Sometimes in certain conditions, you just got to be mindful of conditions also. Sometimes we just get carried away with pushing the needle forward in T20 cricket,” Dravid spoke at the pre-match press conference.
“Cricket is a very condition specific game. It’s one of the only sports left where the surface makes such an impact on the actual skill levels, the actual performance levels, what is an acceptable performance level. It (pitch) has to be brought into consideration at all times. And I think we saw that in the US,” said the departing India coach.
Dravid on ‘dangerous’ Afghanistan
The match will be played at the Kensington Oval under windy conditions and Dravid feels it would make the Afghan pacers like Fazalhaq Farooqui more dangerous. “It is not just their spinners, their pacers are also experienced and doing well. Afghanistan is a very dangerous team in this format of the game. They play a lot of T20 cricket and their cricketers are very prominent members of their IPL teams. They have showed that with their performances in the World Cup,” Dravid said.
Team India will play their three Super Eight games at three different venues in a span of five days and adjusting quickly to the conditions will be utmost crucial. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
