00:00Our cricket analyst, Sunny Gavaskar, joins us live on the program.
00:04He joins us live from Chennai, from the stadium.
00:06In fact, Saibai, let's start with the overall.
00:09I'll get into specifics a little later.
00:11Let's start with the overall Indian performance.
00:13And they've got the record score, the second highest in World Cup history
00:17is what India notched up today, 2-5-6.
00:19This is something that we used to all be talking about.
00:23India's firepower when it comes to India's batting.
00:25That is something we didn't see throughout this tournament.
00:28Happy that it's all come together for this game and for games coming up.
00:34Other teams are going to be wary of this batting line-up now.
00:40Well, they've got a good start.
00:41All these matches, their opening bat has gone out for a zero.
00:45Whether it was Abhishek Sharma or Rishan Kishan, they've got out for ducks.
00:49And they've got out in the power play, which really puts pressure on any team.
00:53This time around, just one wicket in the power play and 70-plus runs on the board,
00:57which meant that they had got a very, very good platform.
01:00And therefore, it became that much easier for the battles coming down the order
01:03to play a lot more freely, play their shots from virtually the first ball
01:08and get the big runs that they did.
01:09That's right.
01:10The openers did give them a very good start.
01:12And I'm going to talk to you about one of those openers first.
01:15And that is Abhishek Sharma.
01:17Remember, we were talking about how he's not really showing that kind of form
01:22that we've come to get used to.
01:24Three ducks is what he got.
01:26So, today, even though, you know, I see his strike rate,
01:29he gets the highest runs for India, 55,
01:32ends up with a very impressive strike rate of 180.
01:35But he didn't start the way we've gotten so used to him, right?
01:39Not bang-bang from the start.
01:40Was a bit conservative.
01:41Do you like this version of Abhishek a little more?
01:47Absolutely.
01:48He hit the...
01:48He stroked the first ball off the back foot for a single.
01:52Got off the mark.
01:53Then he hit a couple of boundaries.
01:55But again, what was most impressive was the fact that he wasn't rushing down the pitch
02:00like he tends to do, even before the ball has been bowled.
02:03So, he didn't play any pre-meditated shots today.
02:06He played according to the delivery.
02:09If the delivery was short, because he's got this great ability to just rock back
02:13and pull the ball.
02:14And if the delivery was pitched up, he was able to drive it or loft it for success.
02:19So, he played according to the delivery.
02:21Didn't play any pre-meditated shots and looked very good.
02:24I mean, look, he had a strike rate of almost 200.
02:27What more can you ask for?
02:29Okay.
02:30Now, to the other opener.
02:31Sanju Samson comes into this game at the expense of a lower-order batter in Rinku Singh.
02:3924 of 15, I know opinions are divided.
02:43How do you view Sanju's knock?
02:45Do you think he did what was expected of him under the circumstances?
02:50And this is what you expect from him going forward?
02:52Or would you rather want him to, if he gets a good start, get you a big total,
02:58which he hasn't been?
03:01Well, he did what was expected of him to get the team off to a good start.
03:06But as a batter, I think even he would want to get a 50-plus or maybe 70-80 and
03:11take the
03:12team, you know, very regularly to 200.
03:14So, yes, I think he did what was expected of him, bringing a left-hand, right-hand combination
03:20to the trees, making it that much harder for the bowlers.
03:23So, you cannot fault him because he was all the time looking to take advantage of the power
03:30play and the field restrictions.
03:32Sai Bai, you know, we spoke about Sanju's innings in particular.
03:36But overall, looking at the pitch, many will say that this is probably the best batting pitch
03:41that India has gotten in this entire tournament so far.
03:45But do you think this sort of pitch actually suits the Indian style and template a bit more?
03:50And then, you know, many are surprised, why didn't we get such a good batting pitch earlier
03:54in the tournament?
03:57Yes, a pitch where the ball comes onto the bat quite nicely, has got a decent bounce,
04:01is what the Indian batters love.
04:03Because they can get under the ball and hit it over the top.
04:06And with the pace that it comes off.
04:09Zimbabwe, strangely, you know, got Maposa, who had not played a T20 game so far in the
04:1611 in place of a spin-up.
04:17So, that was a little bit hard to understand.
04:19But that said, the Indian batters took great advantage of a very, very good pitch and, you
04:24know, got runs.
04:25Everybody got runs, which actually is very good, very good for the game on Sunday.
04:29Okay.
04:29At the moment, everything seems hunky-dory.
04:31But I'm also going to look at this particular performance critically.
04:35You know, today's win may have been convincing, Saini Bhai, but the sixth bowling option,
04:40what do you make of that?
04:40Do you think that's a bit of concern?
04:43Shivam Dubey went for plenty of runs today.
04:45He went for runs in the last game versus South Africa as well.
04:49Now, India effectively have five bowlers.
04:52But we've seen in a T20 format, you need the sixth or the seventh bowler also to do your
04:57job.
04:58Do you think that's an area of concern?
05:00And if it is, how does India address that?
05:03Yeah.
05:05Well, I mean, if you're looking to strengthen your batting and lengthen your batting, then
05:09obviously that sixth bowling option will not always be there.
05:12But I think you've got to depend on your five bowlers and have the sixth bowler as, you
05:18know, as somebody who you can use to maybe not bowl the four overs, but maybe four to cover
05:24for somebody who's having a bad day.
05:27So that is what you want your sixth bowler for.
05:29And I think with that in view, this combination looks the best combination that India has.
05:35It does seem that this might be the combination that the Indian team now continues with.
05:40Also, they don't have too many games to experiment.
05:43Every game from here on is a must-win game for the Indian team.
05:47And talking about must-win games, Sunnybhai, India are going to be facing West Indies on
05:52Sunday.
05:52That's going to be a much bigger encounter because it's a winner-takes-all sort of a scenario.
05:57West Indies today got beaten rather convincingly by South Africa earlier in the day.
06:03Now, what lessons do you think India can take from that particular encounter and take it
06:08with them for the crucial West Indies game on Sunday?
06:13The lesson that India can take from that game is that don't take the West Indies batting
06:17lightly.
06:18If your eight-wicket partnership can add almost 90 runs, that tells you the depth of the West
06:23Indies batting.
06:24And in Romero-Shepard, they have somebody who's not only taken a hat-trick in this tournament,
06:28but also somebody who can hit the ball into the stands quite regularly.
06:33So, not to take the West Indies team lightly at all, because they have, look, they have,
06:39when you look at all the leagues all around the world and the IPL, the impact players invariably
06:45are from the West Indies.
06:46They never get the credit for it, but they invariably are from the West Indies.
06:50So, taking the West Indies team lightly will be a huge, huge mistake.
06:55Okay, that's a sane advice from Mr. Gavaskar, as you'd expect, to the Indian team.
07:01Don't take them lightly.
07:02It's going to be a crucial encounter.
07:04We'll have you covered here on India today, bring you all the latest.
07:07Plenty more to come with Mr. Gavaskar live on our broadcast.
07:10But, okay, the biggest takeaway from Sura Kumar Yadav's reaction there, he said,
07:16we were never about it.
07:17He had full faith in his side, and I guess it's that confidence that has taken India through
07:22in this particular game, and may help them a lot going forward as well.
07:26Sani Gavaskar, still live with us on the broadcast.
07:28Sahibai, just one thing, you know, Super 8s, all the big teams, 8 teams,
07:33we thought we'll get a lot of one-sided encounter.
07:35Not that we're complaining, India has won rather convincingly,
07:38but anything that you can put a finger to?
07:41Why is it that we're getting such one-sided encounters in the business end of the tournament?
07:48Yes, I think that's because, you know, maybe a favoured team like Australia
07:53wasn't able to make it, and which would have been probably a lot closer contest
08:00than what Zimbabwe have been able to do.
08:02Zimbabwe certainly played very well at the early stages,
08:04but when they've come to the Super 8, like the West Indies smashed 250 against them,
08:10now India have smashed 250 against them.
08:12So it clearly shows that, you know, as far as the bowling is concerned,
08:15that they didn't quite have the bowling to restrict batters on good pitches
08:21like they played at the 1KD Stadium and here at the Chidambaram Stadium.
08:28Just summing up, you know, the tournament so far,
08:31who do you think is looking like the team to be the favourites,
08:35if I can put it that way, the favourites to lift the trophy?
08:37South Africa, clearly the undefeated team,
08:40looking like a million dollars at the moment.
08:42Are they the favourites?
08:47For me, the two favourites are, I mean, the two favourites,
08:50the two top sort of, you know, at the moment, are South Africa and England.
08:54Don't forget, you know, England might have had a close victory,
08:58but that again is down to the modern tendency to try and finish the game off
09:02with a six rather than, you know, when you have to get six runs
09:05and you've got about 20 deliveries, people still want to finish it in two deliveries
09:09and in the process get out.
09:11Instead of knocking, say, two, two, two and three deliveries,
09:14that is a modern thing.
09:16Otherwise, you know, the England win would have been a very, very easy win
09:18against Pakistan.
09:20But England, because they've got the bowlers,
09:23who can bowl spin as well as quick,
09:25they've got a very good bowling attack.
09:27And the batting also, they've got a fair bit of depth over there.
09:29So, I think England and South Africa are the two teams to watch out for.
09:36That's an interesting take.
09:37I don't hear India there, but I can't blame you.
09:41These two teams, England and South Africa, have looked like the best team.
09:44Finally, Zainabai, before we let you go,
09:47from the Indian point of view, this particular game versus Zimbabwe,
09:50what's the biggest positive you think for India in this match?
09:54It could be an individual or a collective thing that comes to your mind?
10:00I think the biggest positive for me would be Abhishek Sharma getting back into form.
10:04And most importantly, what was impressive was the adjustment of the bat speed.
10:09If the ball was slower, his bat speed, he would adjust it.
10:13When he brought it down, he wasn't really looking to swing the ball blindly.
10:18He was adjusting his bat speed according to the speed and the bounce
10:21with which the ball was coming, which meant that he was getting into form.
10:25He's not yet into his best form, but at least he's getting there.
10:29And that is good news for India.
10:32Okay, we'll leave it at that.
10:33Completely out of time.
10:34But Mr. Gavaskar, thank you so much for joining us here on India Today
10:37and putting into perspective India's win versus Zimbabwe.
10:41So, the Indian juggernaut continues to roll.
10:44Next up, West Indies in a must-win encounter on Sunday.
10:48As I said earlier, for all the previews, analysis, ground reports,
10:52the one-stop destination is India Today.
10:55From me, Nikhil Naz and the entire sports team here at India Today,
10:59thanks so much for watching.
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