“Death bowling is a concern” : Dinesh Karthik on the issues Team Indian must address before the T20I World Cup

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik pointed out a key area of concern for Team India ahead of the T20I World Cup at home. He stated that Team India are the favorites to defend their World Cup crown, and applauded their performances in the shortest format of the game in the last two years.

Team India have won 29 out of the last 36 T20I matches since the last T20I World Cup, which also includes an Asia Cup triumph in September last year. Dinesh Karthik applauded the team’s ability to be so consistent across bilateral series, which also includes victories over Australia away, and South Africa at home.

“The Indian team is in a very strong position at the moment. As we sit here, they have won 29 out of the 36 matches they have played in T20 cricket post the World Cup, which is a phenomenal record to have. In a very fickle format like T20, where upsets are the norm, this level of consistency is remarkable. Winning 29 out of the last 36 games they have played is, I feel, very hard to replicate. For starters, it tells you about the strength of the team,” said Karthik on JioStar’s ‘The Experts’ View.’

“They have also played a very good Asia Cup in the recent past and went past Pakistan in the final, beating them three out of three times. If you look at the depth of this group, there’s India, there’s Pakistan, and then there are three associate nations who are still finding their feet at the international level. You would expect India or Pakistan to beat them, but the beauty of this format is that you cannot walk into any game thinking it is going to be easy,” he added.

However, Dinesh Karthik was quick to point one issue in the Team India’s setup which is their death bowling. India have the best death bowler in their lineup in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, but given that they play three spinners in their lineup, they are often left with limited pace bowling options.

In the last one year, we have often seen the likes of Shivam Dube bowling in the death overs, and also with the new ball. Dinesh Karthik stated that Team India will have to sort out the gaps in their death bowling department, given that they could be put well under pressure when defending scores in the upcoming World Cup.

“You lose the toss, you are bowling, and suddenly, you are thinking this could be challenging at the back end. You need to get an above-par score to give yourself a chance to defend under dew. So, I would say India are in a very good place,” said Karthik.

“Death bowling is a concern. I think it’s a challenge because of the way they stack up their eleven. When they have played in the subcontinent, they have gone with (Jasprit) Bumrah, Hardik (Pandya) as the second pacer, and Shivam Dube as the third, while backing their spinners heavily. At times, when the game goes deep, especially when they are defending a total, the back end can become a challenge,” he added.