Afganistan, June 19 (Representative) A pattern seems to have emerged to bowling tactics on the Caribbean pitches, with the odd exception to the Kensington Oval, where pitches have become progressively slower in recent times. After 11 seasons of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the brains trust of the league’s franchises has inferred from a bit of data crunching that the spinners bowling faster have a better chance of success than those that bowl slow.“In general what they have found out from the CPL data is that the faster you bowl spin on those tracks the more purchase you get,” says a member of the coaching staff of the Barbados Royals.The Indian team management is likely to include both finger spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel – in the side and both bowl at a fast pace anyway. That should help the Indian team whether or not they bring in wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav into the mix for a pacer. Jadeja and Axar should be handy for the opposition on the Caribbean pitches, where the Indian team will play the remaining matches of the World Cup. Over the last two days, the two have been super busy at the nets here at the Oval.However, data for the Oval here in Bridgetown where India will play their game against Afghanistan on Thursday, is at odds with the numbers of other pitches of the West Indies. According to Cricket 21, an analytics firm that supplies data to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as to CPL franchises, spinners here would be definitely frugal but it would be the pacers that would be more effective in terms of taking wickets. Of the 61 wickets that have fallen here in this World Cup, 40 have gone to the fast bowlers.
Largely, the Barbados track has been a sporting pitch with an average batting first score of 172 for 7 in T20s since 2023. While the average first-innings score here, overall, has been 161 for 7, the average first-innings winning total has been 172 for 6. Since 2021, this has gone up to 189 for 6 despite a little dip last year, where the average winning total came down down by nine runs. The previous game here in this T20 World Cup saw Australia score 201 batting first against England.India, with a formidable batting line-up, would not mind those numbers but what can please the Indian team is that the right-arm pacers have taken 27 out of the 61 wickets here in the World Cup, with leg-spinners being the most successful among the spinners. That should sound music to the ears of Jasprit Bumrah although it is a different matter that the India spearhead can be effective in any bowling conditions. Adding to the better conditions is also the fact that the toss has not had a major impact on the outcome of the game, although most teams tend to bowl first here.Those numbers should please India as they are a stronger side than their opposition, Afghanistan. The conventional wisdom would suggest that when pitches live up to the batting conditions, the favourites tend to win.
Anything can happen in a T20 game for sure, but in a match of 180 batting track, a better batting side should win than on a surface that struggles to produce 120 runs.Suryakumar Yadav, who sweated it out on practice pitches here over the last two days, seemed to be relieved to be coming to the West Indies after a grueling time in the US leg of the World Cup. “We know the conditions here, how they react, how they act. So we are very happy,” the India batsman said. “I was happy playing there as well. It’s not that we weren’t happy playing there. But we were playing for the first time. The conditions were different and a little challenging as well. But we have played here [before].“Last time, also when we were here for ODI, it was a similar kind of wicket. I don’t think there has been a lot of cricket played here in the last 10 days. The practice wickets were good. So we’re expecting that the game wicket will also be as good.”As for giant killers Afghanistan, who upset New Zealand in the World Cup here, the India batter said the team had plans. “We do obviously have plans against Afghanistan, but we are completely focused on our strong points really well. We’re working on that. And I mean, we do think about the opposition, but at the same time, at the end of the day, you should know what your strong points are and back it,” Suryakumar noted.