TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Four matches have been played and four wins have been recorded, but Team India is yet to have a complete show with the bat in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Unlike the appetizers served in pre-multi-nation bilateral games, the main course fell far short of expectations. The Men in Blue have had different heroes in all four games to help them out, but will likely struggle in the Super 8 stage. Suryakumar Yadav against the United States, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya against Namibia, Ishan again against Pakistan and Shivam Dube showing firepower at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.The start has been the biggest concern as Abhishek Sharma, the world’s top-ranked T20I batsman, is yet to score a run in the tournament. It was exposed early on that Tilak Varma, whose newfound obsession with farm strikes showed no intention, sucked momentum from the innings. Surya’s cautious start further allowed the opposition to impose restrictions in the middle overs, meaning the lower order did most of the heavy lifting.Ishan has been India’s main attacker but after his withdrawal in the fifth over, the Netherlands gained significant control when Tilak combined with Surya in the middle overs. The duo combined for 28 deliveries but only scored 30 runs. The Indian captain got an early reprieve but was far from ideal in terms of fluency and very disciplined in front of the crowd when faced with an attack that went to plan.Borders have dried up and a sense of hopelessness is spreading, prompting people to take immediate action. Tilak returned after scoring 31 runs off 27 balls, while Surya found the fielder at the last minute scoring 34 runs off 28 balls. When the play dried up, Gladiator Dube took matters into his own hands and his shot selection was impeccable. The opposition cautiously tried to mix up the pace but Dube did not fall into the trap. He seemed to have read it from his hand, and his actions were not premeditated. The ball went where it was supposed to hit, without any half-measures.With six sixes and four boundaries, he injected much-needed urgency into the game and even when Hardik was running the ball at the other end, Dube’s approach kept India’s big lead alive. The pair’s 76 off just 35 balls played a significant role in curbing the cautious approach shown by the previous left-right pair of Surya and Tilak in the innings.It was always going to be a tough task for the Netherlands to chase 194 on a pitch that had something to offer the bowlers. They performed well against the new-ball pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh but had no response against Varun Chakravarthy. The enigmatic spinner, India’s ace in the tournament, picked three wickets in as many overs, two of which came in consecutive deliveries, while the Dutch batsman looked clueless as he unfurled his bag of tricks.In the last group match, Surya used as many as seven bowlers and even gave away the ball to Abhishek Sharma to ensure everyone was warmed up for the big game against South Africa on February 22. The weaknesses of India’s batsmen have been exposed several times by the lower-ranked teams in the past few weeks and the defending champions will be looking to address the issue before the end of the tournament.Gerhard Erasmus, Aryan Dutt, Salman Agha, Saim Ayub and Usman Tariq have already provided enough clues for the team to face India in the Super 8s. Aiden Markram (South Africa), Roston Chase (West Indies) and Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) will be eagerly awaiting Surya & Co.’s arrival.summary scoreIndia 193/6 in 20 overs (Shivam Dube 66, Suryakumar Yadav 34; Logan van Beek 3/56, Aryan Dutt 2/19)Netherlands 176/7 in 20 overs (Bas de Leede 33, Zach Lion-Cachet 26; Varun Chakravarthy 3/14, Shivam Dube 35/2)
