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Indian Colts on the right track

The bowling department needs to be plugged quickly,
writes W.V. Raman

— File Photo

Pradeep Sangwan.

With two facile victories in the group matches, the Indian Colts are on the right track in the current edition of the Youth Under-19 World Cup.

The Indians continued their dominance over South Africa with a convincing win that has elevated them to the top of the table.

The South Africans would have liked to wreak vengeance after their dismal show against the Indians at home four weeks prior to the World Cup. However, that was not to be as the match was well and truly in India’s grasp as left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan bowled an incisive spell to make short work of the South African top order.

Opener Malan, on whom the South Africans depend a lot, was consumed before he got off the block and there was no respite for the South Africans from that moment. The promising Jonathan Wandiar played in his usual swashbuckling manner to stem the rot and his half-century took the South Africans to some respectability.

Crisp hitting

The Indians were guilty of feeding Wandiar with some poor deliveries, but the left-hander hit the ball crisply with the minimum of effort. The remarkable aspect about Wandiar’s batting is that he is not afraid to play his shots even under adversity.

His unbridled tendency to take chances is what makes him an exciting batsman to watch. Wandiar was aided by his skipper Parnell, as they put up a partnership to give their side a ray of hope.

Though Parnell is reasonably quick and has the ability to pick up a wicket with the new ball, the lack of an equally able partner dilutes his efficacy.

The Indian colts have a strong batting line up but the dogged South Africans made the Indians work hard for their victory. Skipper Virat Kohli played with composure as he laid the foundation for the victory in the company of Tanmay Srivastav.

Srivastav, the centurion in the Ranji final for Uttar Pradesh, batted in a positive manner to ease the pressure.

The left-hander took his chances and cleared the in-field to pick up boundaries against the seamers. A couple of quick wickets after Srivastav’s dismissal caused a bit of flutter but Kohli applied himself and ensured that his team did not make a hash of things.

The Indians have another game before the tournament goes into the quarterfinal stage and they have to utilise the final game to sort out their bowling concerns. Except for Sangwan, the other medium-pacers have not warmed up to the task until now and this can create some serious problems in the latter stages of the tournament.

The saviours

The spinners Jadeja and Iqbal have been the saviours in the middle overs, but the lack of sting in the medium-pace department can prove to be costly if a couple of top-order batsmen get stuck in the power plays.

Kohli has managed his resources well enough until now by sneaking in a few overs himself, but the specialist bowlers have to deliver for the talented team to regain the Cup.

The Indians have to remember that they have been sounded a warning in the lead up game and hence this gap in the bowling department needs to be plugged quickly as there is very little margin for error in the knock-out phase.

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