When we down to analyse how India chased down a record total and beat world No 1 Australia in the T20I on Saturday, most will not be able to look past Shafali Verma’s quickfire 49 and Smriti Mandhana’s calm 55 in Melbourne.
Verma deserves the plaudits, rightly. She has the rare ability to clear the infield and her no-holds-barred innings pushed Australia into a corner; a corner they never quite managed to find their way out of. The two openers put on 85 in just 8.1 overs before the 16-year-old hit one straight to the fielder in the deep.
Mandhana displayed a veteran’s calm to steer the innings closer to the daunting target. Her presence in the middle ensured that India always kept the required run-rate in check and then Harmanpreet Kaur, with a little help from Deepti Sharma, ensured that the team got the right result for their efforts as well.
But what might get lost in all the big-hitting is this: while the successful chase included 22 fours and 2 sixes, is a very significant statistic, India played just 29 dot balls in their innings.
Change in approach
Kaur’s unit clearly learned from their defeat against England, when they played 53 dot balls in the innings. Today, there was a marked change in their approach. Perhaps it was, in part, forced by the target Australia had set but India definitely pushed hard for the singles and attempted to rotate the strike as often as possible.
And it wasn’t just that. Mandhana, despite looking in great touch herself, chose to turn the strike over to Verma as often as possible in the first six overs. At the end of the Powerplay, Verma had faced 23 deliveries and given how much of a dasher she is, this only means big runs. This was smart cricket by Mandhana and the Indian team management. After the teenager had faced just eight balls in the first six overs against England, they clearly had spoken about this and the execution from the tactical point of view was spot on.
Verma is a bit of runaway train. There is no stopping her when she gets going and with experience, she will learn how to reset her innings after the initial rush. But at the moment, if she is kept away from the strike, she falters and that is why it is important to keep her in the mix. Mandhana did it brilliantly by taking a single ever so often and it paid rich dividends for India.
Watch: Indian teenager Shafali Verma hits a stunning six off world No 1 bowler Megan Schutt
Closing it out
Jemimah Rodrigues came in at the fall of Verma’s innings and played a classic little innings. Her 30-run knock off 19 balls allowed Mandhana to play the anchor role and not feel the scoreboard pressure at all. They hit the fours and continued to run the quick singles. Due to this proactive approach, Australia were unable to put the squeeze on even after the Powerplay overs.
Too often we see India’s batting display a familiar failing — the big hits are interspersed with a lot of dot balls. As a result, even the big hits see India always looking to play catch-up. But in this run-chase, the singles kept India ahead of the asking rate; the singles gave them breathing room against the world’s best team.
They also gave Harmanpreet the time she needed to find her feet in the middle. She, too, called for the singles with urgency... refusing to get bogged down even as Australia tried to rack up the pressure.
These little things matter as much as the big shots. The single may not be as attractive to watch as a four or a six but as far as winning matches goes, it is the most important of building blocks. And, from Verma to Sharma, everyone in the Indian team seemed to understand that.
In essence, this win against Australia should not only give them confidence, but it should also give them a template of how to bat in the Twenty20 format. Each ball is a scoring opportunity and needs to be treated as such — a dot ball is a failure and if India can keep them to a minimum, their chances of winning games will increase exponentially.