The Week India – June 30, 2019

98 THE WEEK • JUNE 30, 2019

WORLD CUP

ICC

2019

The traditional finger spinners

seem to have lost their importance

in this tournament. Maybe their

time will come once the

wickets become drier in the

later part of June and in July.

have added zing to the preparation,

planning and tactics of all teams.

Knowledge may be power, but in an

unpredictable game like cricket, con-

structive and innovative leadership

on the field still rules the roost.

The first over of the opening match

of this World Cup (South Africa vs

England) saw a surprising move by

the Proteas. They opened their cam-

paign with leg spinner Imran Tahir.

Bingo! Tahir got the dangerous Jonny

Bairstow out, but in the excitement of

his success, South African captain Faf

du Plessis, continued with his plans

for a trifle too long. This fritted away

the advantage that his brilliant move

had achieved.

The next noteworthy move came

from the West Indies. They unleashed

a performance against Pakistan

which was reminiscent of their old,

forgotten style. A throwback to the

1970s and 1980s when West Indian

cricket dominated the world through

ferocious bowling and beautiful

stroke-play. One always marvelled at

the way Brazil played football and the

calypso style of cricket from the West

Indies. At the World Cup, it was not

only good to see, but it also ignited a

spark in the pace attacks of the other

teams. The bouncer, slow or fast, has

become an important wicket-taking

ball for fast bowlers. Batsmen who

were inclined to play shots off the

front foot are now being forced on to

their back foot.

There are two major tactical chang-

es that one could see in the approach

of most teams in the initial matches.

The first 10 overs of Power Play with

only two fielders allowed outside the

30-yard circle was earlier used for ag-

gressive batting. The openers are now

batting far more sensibly although

they are positive in their approach.

There is an element of caution rather

than carefreeness. Therefore, we

are seeing some good partnerships

among the top three batsmen.

This approach creates a launch

pad for the middle overs, rather

than waiting for the final 10 overs.

The four-fielder restriction outside

the 30-yard circle—from overs 11 to

40—has accelerated the game in the

period, which was earlier used for

consolidation. The Indian think tank

used it to perfection against Australia,

when they promoted the hard hitting

Hardik Pandya to No 4. His carefree

knock was the differentiator in the

win for India.

This World Cup is highly depend-

ent on a team’s bowling performance.

The captain has to be very clever in

utilising his bowlers. Kohli led India

brilliantly against Australia. The wick-

et was good and he used Kuldeep

Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and pacers

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit

Bumrah effectively. He curtailed the

quick-scoring David Warner through

his wrist spinners and managed

to keep both Usman Khawaja and

Steve Smith quiet. Eoin Morgan, the

England captain, has used his pacers

Mark Wood and Jofra Archer very

cleverly. Kane Williamson, the New

Zealand captain, is using his fast me-

dium swing bowler, James Neesham,

with pacers Lockie Ferguson and

Trent Boult. Australia, unfortunate-

ly, are dependent on Mitchell Starc,

their frontline pacer and his form is

important for them to be a force to be

reckoned with.

The traditional finger spinners

seem to have lost their importance

in this tournament. Maybe their time

will come once the wickets become

drier in the later part of June and in

July. The wrist spinners are proving to

be useful and with two of them in the

line up, India have a good mix of fast

and slow bowlers.

Field placement is an area that is

proving to be the most important for

captains. Understanding the topog-

raphy of each ground, the slopes,

distance and the wind factor has

become a must. Balancing it astutely

and understanding their bowlers,

the batsman’s hitting zones and

the placement of their fielders have

become crucial. To see close catchers

in slips, gully and even backward

and forward short leg is a pleasant

sight—this shows that there is a duel

between the bat and the ball. For me,

the two most important positions are

short cover and short mid-wicket.

This is an area where most captains

are faltering as agile safe fielders are

being placed in the outfield and not

in these positions.

Good leadership out in the middle

will be key to winning the World Cup.

Modern technology will only take the

captain so far.

Yajurvindra Singh is a former India cricketer.