One lesser-known statistic about the Indian Premier League (IPL) is that teams taking more singles tend to lose the match. This has been noticeable apparently in recent years, with experts suggesting it may have been the case over the last four to five seasons, maybe since 2018. “The IPL stats say the team that takes the most singles loses most of their games,” explains an IPL analyst. “What it means is that if you are not taking singles, you are scoring braces, threes or boundaries.”
Much as the format here was the same as the IPL, the Nassau County pitch in New York defies this phenomenon. The conditions here entailed more patience, more endurance, more concentration, more rotation of strike, and, most importantly, more singles. On Wednesday, India scored 44 singles compared to the USA’s 33 and won comfortably, by seven wickets, while chasing 111. The thinking behind this is no rocket science – if the wickets are in hand, the odd big overs would be inevitable, the treacherous nature of the surface notwithstanding.
In the game against Pakistan, India took fewer singles than their opposition, but the Babar Azam-led side lacked the wickets to capitalize in the end. Conversely, against the USA, India had plenty of them, as Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube displayed immense patience and caution to overcome the challenging pitch conditions. The big overs inevitably ensued, 15 runs in the 17th, 11 in the 16th, and nine in the 15th. It was game-over for the USA.
With an initial asking rate of just 5.5, prudence demanded calmness and composure. Regular singles were enough to get the job done. The Indian think tank’s strategy of maintaining a right-left batting combination also complimented the approach and facilitated efficient strike rotation. This clarity in approach ensured that the early loss of openers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did not hurt the cause and hinder the chase. Although the USA had their moments in the game, India remained in control throughout.
On a perilous pitch, when big hits were difficult to execute, Suryakumar Yadav, who had scores of 7 and 2 in the previous two games, was quick to realise and read the conditions. It was not the 360 degree Surya one has known him as. He controlled the strike knowing fully well that longer boundaries would not permit his all-round shots. His unbeaten half century (50 not out off 49 balls) was the joint slowest in the Twenty20 World Cup. He would not have minded the dubious distinction. It did the job for the team.
Against Pakistan a few days ago, Surya appeared to have forgotten his strengths under pressure. Trying to play a ball on the leg stump to mid-off was not the best of options. More so when it was clear that the ball was not coming on perfectly. It was double whammy of a rather serious proposition as he appeared to have made two errors off one ball, against Haris Rauf. It was like a nervous cat in a room full of rocking chairs. It was pressure.
He did make amends against the USA and Rohit Sharma was quick to applaud his adjustment. “He (Surya) showed he has a different game to him, that’s what you expect from experienced players. Credit to the way he stuck through today to take the game deep and win it for us,” the skipper said after India completed a seven-wicket win in the 19th over, to top the Group and qualify for the Super Eight Stage.
As has been pointed out abundantly, the pitch has been so up and down that the stronger opposition for the batters was the surface rather than the bowlers. The ball would come so slow that the timing would invariably elude the batter. And on Wednesday, it may have helped the USA cause as they did not have tearaway pacers in their ranks. The ball would come better and faster off a Jasprit Bumrah or a Mohammed Siraj rather than an Ali Khan or a Saurabh Netravalkar, who were slow or medium, not fast medium.
It was surely not easy to score off the Indian pacers. But the ball did come on to the bat a lot better than when it had more time to sit on the surface and react when Netravalkar and his USA colleagues were bowling. The wicket of Rohit was the testimony – the scrambled seam delivery failed his timing. On an India pitch, it would have sailed over the rope.
The USA were also smart enough not to call upon their left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, who could have gotten a strong treatment from Shivam Dube, a specialist in taking the spinners to the cleaners. “The decision not to bowl left-arm spinner to a big strapping left-handed batsman who hits the ball miles, I think was a smart decision. Suryakumar Yadav, he plays left-arm spin every day of the week. So, it was a smart decision. We had five fast bowlers in our lineup to try and do the job. The pitch didn’t spin, the pitch went up and down. So I think our tactics were right. The execution wasn’t quite on point. But I can’t fault our players, their energy, their attitude and their desire to win, their fight showed a lot of character,” USA coach Stuart Law said, explaining the strategy and stating that he is proud of his players.
As proud would be his Indian counterpart Rahul Dravid, who prepared the players well to the conditions – batters and bowlers alike.
