Kolkata, February 28 One of the defining features of this edition of the T20 World Cup has been the depth of the various batting units and the increasing tendency of batters to take high-risk, high-reward routes.
All teams have achieved varying degrees of success, but no one has actually retreated, a prime example being the West Indies team, which, despite its heavy defeat against the Proteas, demonstrated what true batting depth really means.
Despite being reduced to 7 for less than 90, the West Indies managed 176, thanks to all-rounder Romario Shepherd scoring 52 off 37 balls at No. 9.
"I don't think there are many line-ups that can boast of Romario Shepherd coming in at number nine," India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate conceded during the pre-match press conference.
"I think that's also a feature of all the teams in the tournament now. Certainly, the teams that have done well. England bats really deep. New Zealand bats really deep. India bats really deep. We have the luxury of someone like Axar, if he doesn't come in early, coming in at eight."
When teams are playing the proverbial "attack at all costs" game, then the strategy of containment doesn't necessarily work.
And if one looks at a batting line-up comprising Shai Hope, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Holder, and Romario Shepherd, then taking wickets is the only solution.
"So you have to focus on taking wickets. I think that old-school way of just containing for 20 overs has gone out of fashion. We feel West Indies play a risk-reward game of high proportion in both aspects of that."
However, Ten Doeschate believes that the bowling unit can find weaknesses in the Caribbean team and follow the Proteas' template.
"As a bowling unit, we're really looking forward to that challenge. We know there are weaknesses. That's where we can get wickets. Our plan for tomorrow will be to attack for the whole 20 overs and take them back in the same way that South Africa did."
However, on the hard Eden Gardens black soil surface, which promises to be full of runs, taking wickets will be a bigger challenge compared to Ahmedabad.
"It's certainly going to be a challenge. The surface looks pretty good, so it could be a hard-scoring game. As well as throwing punches with the ball, we have to make sure that we're brave with the bat as well and maintain a high strike rate and high intent throughout the innings."
Practicing against pace-off deliveries
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If one wants to keenly watch a training session, the most inconvenient ground in India is certainly Eden Gardens. Since there aren't any external nets, it is difficult to gauge if the net bowlers were asked to take pace off deliveries against the Indian batters.
A disturbing statistic is that Indian batters have been dismissed 16 times in the whole tournament due to slower deliveries or those which gripped off the surface.
However, according to Ten Doeschate, it is not a great trait to over-analyse a certain trend.
"Like any challenge you face, you don't want to over-focus it and make it too much of a big deal. It'll be maybe half or 40% of the balls where pace is taken off.
"So it certainly is a challenge and something we have spoken about and something the guys will go out and practice now."
However, Ten Doeschate believes that one can rely on one's intuition. "See the ball and hit the ball" should be the mantra.
"We also need to rely on intuition and your gut feel. Like I say, if you focus too much on one thing, your mind gets clogged up. So we want the players just to play what they see in front of them."
