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India defeated Zimbabwe by 71 runs in their last Group 2 Super 12 game in Melbourne and the victory helped the Men in Blue finish atop the group. Team India will take on formidable England in the second semifinal in Adelaide on Thursday.
As per the former India opener turned commentator Aakash Chopra, a couple of problems could prove to be Men in Blue’s stumbling blocks in the semifinal encounter.
Scratchy Rohit
In a video clip shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash picked Rohit Sharma’s scratchy form with the bat as an area of concern.
“The runs did not come from Rohit’s bat once again. Let’s not fool ourselves. We are all Indian fans, when we talk about Babar and Temba not scoring runs, we should also say that Rohit is not making runs,” said the former Indian player.
Rohit’s only substantial knock was a chancy effort against the Netherlands. The aggressive opener has managed just 89 runs in five innings at a below-par average of 17.80 and a lowly strike rate of 109.87. Apart from his 53-run effort against the Dutch, he has not scored more than 15 in any of his other innings.
“Rohit has scored one half-century in five matches, that too was a scratchy fifty, where a catch was dropped as well, and it was a fifty against the Netherlands. Here also you got out, trying to pull a short ball, a fielder was standing in the deep, that’s a problem,” observed Chopra.
Axar’s indifferent form
Axar Patel is frequently being taken to cleaners and that is another big problem for India ahead of the top four encounters.
The former Test player put a question mark on how the Indian spinners will restrict the England batters in Adelaide, with Yuzvendra Chahal unlikely to be part of the playing XI.
“Spin is our weakness now and that weakness is going to be exposed further against England. You have not played Yuzi Chahal and will not be able to play him as well. If you don’t play him, how will you stop England on a flat pitch when the square boundaries will be short?” Chopra questioned.
