South Africa were allowed back into the contest from 20 for 3 and got to 187 for 7. India next play West Indies on Sunday. West Indies had scored 254 for 6 against Zimbabwe and lifted themselves from 83 for 7 to put up 176 for 8 against South Africa.
“They certainly did all the right things to get the batters to bowl a bit through the previous World Cup to now,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “If you look at the last 18 months, where India played T20 cricket where they’ve won every single game, that Tilak Varma got to bowl, Abhishek Sharma got to bowl, Dube got to bowl. Then even Rinku Singh bowled, even Suryakumar Yadav bowled.
“So in that sense, you have options and that’s great. But on a flat pitch, there will be challenges. India would ideally want the comfort of playing eight batters, rather than going in with seven batters and five specialist bowlers.”
Du Plessis agreed that opposition teams would view India’s sixth bowling option as a potential pressure point. From a tactical standpoint, he suggested that sides would look to blunt India’s primary threats like Bumrah and Varun and maneuver the game towards the overs they perceive as less threatening, particularly on good batting surfaces.
“100%%. You look at it and ask: who are the danger bowlers? Most of the time, it’s Bumrah. On the day, you make that call – if you can get on top of someone else early, then the sixth bowling option is going to have to come in.
“If that happens, and he [Dube] is bowling wide yorkers or defensive lines, you can line him up.”
“The team they would have planned before the World Cup and where they find themselves now feels very different from a role perspective,” Du Plessis said prior to the start of the game against Zimbabwe. “Initially, the top three was going to be left-handed, and now you’ve got Sanju coming from five. Possibly to the top. You’ve got Tilak possibly going to five. It’s a lot of movement in terms of role play and if you look at the teams that are doing well, it’s a very set batting line-up.”
Kumble echoed the sentiment, suggesting that India’s long batting order didn’t necessarily lead to clearly defined roles.
“That’s something that India haven’t really been able to manage and yes, they certainly look at a long batting line-up,” Kumble said. “I mean someone like Axar coming in at eight, they need that but, if you want to break it up… The role clarity hasn’t been there with someone like Tilak at three early on and now possibly five, four or even six who knows depending on who’s batting at the other end. Sanju, maybe Tilak, may come in but if it’s Ishan Kishan or an Abhishek Sharma, then maybe Hardik or Surya will come in and Tilak will be pushed. out.”
