India may not have the same balance they had in their first four World Cup games due to Hardik Pandya's injury but it gives the hosts a chance to experiment with a different combination against New Zealand, coach Rahul Dravid said on Saturday. Ahead of Sunday's game in Dharamshala against table-toppers New Zealand, here are 8 things that the home team's coach elaborated about.
1. On the absence of Hardik Pandya...
He is obviously an important player for us and he helps us to balance our squad out. But he is going to be missing this game, so we will have to work around that and see what is the best combination and what we can come up with best.
Hardik Pandya was injured during Bangladesh game | Amey Mansabdar
We will have to see what works best for these conditions and these wickets.
2. On the effectiveness of Indian spinners so far in the tournament...
I think they have done a fantastic job. They've been able to bring us back into games, control games, take wickets, bring the run rate down...
It's nice for us to have both of them (Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav) in the last three games -- a lot of experience, and different skills even though both of them are left-arm spinners.
The bowling coaches working with them to really ensure that they've been bowling really well. Rohit's done a great job in handling them really well and working out the right ends and some really good field placings. Hopefully, we can keep it going.
3. On wickets in Chennai and Ahmedabad being rated as average...
I will definitely respectfully disagree with the average rating given for those two wickets. I think they were good wickets. If you only want to see 350 games and rate only those wickets as good, then I disagree. I think you have to see different skills on display as well. It's not about if we want to see only fours and sixes being hit. If 350+ are good wickets, then why are the bowlers here? Why have spinners at all, for that matter?
See the quality of Jadeja or Santner or Zampa... Watch how Kane Williamson rotated the strike through the middle, the way Virat Kohli and KL Rahul batted against Australia... Those are skills as well which need to come out and be shown and displayed.
In a tournament, I just want to see variety. There will be wickets where 350+ runs are scored, there will be sometimes wickets where the ball turns, and brings the spinners into play. On others, it might seam a little bit. You have got a long tournament, you are playing in India, different parts of the country, there will be different wickets, different challenges. The teams that are able to cope with all of those challenges are the ones that will end up being successful.
4. On assessing New Zealand as an opposition...
A very good side. They play in India a lot. A lot of their players have played in the IPL, so they're very used to these conditions.
They have a lot of experience and depth in their squad. They are well-balanced.
5. On KL Rahul keeping wickets...
KL Rahul | AFP
He is doing a fantastic job. Having had that experience myself, I know it is challenging as he's not someone who keeps regularly. When we first decided that he would keep, we thought we would build him up to this tournament by giving him game time. We wanted to have that kind of option -- someone who can keep and bat in the middle order.
But unfortunately, due to his injury, he actually couldn't keep for a while. But he worked hard, even in his injury to get back.
6. Clarifying Shardul Thakur’s role in the team...
His role was to be a bowling all-rounder. We saw him as someone who has a happy knack for taking wickets and bowling those middle overs. He has been that fourth-seamer option for us on certain wickets which would probably require that fourth-seeming option.
He hasn't had a chance to bat a lot. But certainly, he's been working very hard in the nets with his batting. We've seen that he has the ability to hit some big shots.
Shardul Thakur | AFP
We are pretty clear on what our playing 11 is for tomorrow. But I wouldn't want to be giving too much away.
7. On using Ishan Kishan against New Zealand's left-arm spinners and Suryakumar Yadav missing out...
It is nice to have Ishan. And he's been playing well. He's a left-hander. But again, Surya has also come into some great form against Australia. He played a couple of fantastic innings. An absolutely fantastic player against spin, as we know -- left-arm spin or off-spin or any kind of spin for that matter.
8. On change in weather conditions and dew factor...
A key factor in Dharamshala could be the toss with the cold temperatures in the foothills of the Himalayas leading to an earlier onset of dew in the outfield. There is nothing to hide in this. We are in Dharamshala, the temperature is cold so there will definitely be dew.
But you can't think much about it. Of course, you can make tactics and strategies according to that, but you have no guarantee that you will win the toss. So you have to plan for both. If you have to bowl in dew, then you have to make a few more runs. You have to play positively and give yourself a cushion. You should have the belief that whatever the situation is, we'll try our best to win the match.
