New Delhi, February 25 – Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan has cautioned India against focusing too much on improving their net run rate ahead of their crucial Super Eights match against Zimbabwe, saying that winning must remain their top priority in their bid to reach the semi-finals.
Defending champions India will play against Zimbabwe in their second Super Eights game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday evening, knowing that back-to-back wins will keep their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive after a heavy 76-run defeat to South Africa has put them in danger of an early exit from the competition.
“I really hope that the approach of playing for net run rate does not come into play at the start of the game. The priority should be winning the game first. So, perform well and try to win. Only then should you think about the run-rate. If you start thinking about chasing the net run-rate of, say, the West Indies, that is almost impossible.”
“That would mean beating teams like Zimbabwe and the West Indies by a margin of 100 runs, which is not easy in T20 cricket. So, I sincerely hope that when the Indian team plays these next two matches, the main focus is simply on winning first,” said Pathan on JioStar.
He also reflected on what went wrong for India in the heavy loss to South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. “Where do I even begin? As Surya said, India needs to bowl, bat and field better to win the next game. We did not perform well in any of the three departments.”
“What disappointed me the most was that once we had lost four or five wickets, no one tried to stitch together a partnership and take the score close to 150. There was not even one substantial partnership. Everyone wanted to play aggressively, and look at what has happened.”
Acknowledging that India’s net run rate of -3.8 is a significant setback, Pathan also lauded South Africa for their successful strategy of using slower balls. “We are now far behind on net run-rate. The West Indies and South Africa have gone miles ahead. So, recovering that run-rate is going to be very difficult.”
“Apart from that, I was very vocal about the slower deliveries and variations of the South African bowlers. They used them very smartly, and we had no answer. Whenever they bowled a slower one to any batter, there was no ability to see off that delivery, rotate the strike, or look for a low-risk boundary option.”
Though there is a lot of talk about Sanju Samson coming into the playing eleven and breaking the monotony of left-handed batters at the top of the order for the clash against Zimbabwe, Pathan felt skipper Suryakumar Yadav should bat at number three.
“I think Surya can bat at number three. If you look at it from the team’s point of view, I completely understand the conservative approach from Surya, especially because Abhishek has been getting out early. In the last game, Ishan Kishan got out in the first over. You do not want to expose Suryakumar Yadav at number three when he is so effective in the middle overs, striking at 160.
“If something goes wrong with the new ball, just one good delivery can get him out. So, I understand the thinking. However, they still need to consider batting Suryakumar Yadav at number three to break the monotony of having three left-handers at the top,” he concluded.
