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Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar said that the Men in Blue should not "overanalyse" their dissapointing batting performance against USA in the ICC T20 World Cup opener, since their attacking approach is "fraught with risk" and instead of doubting their highly successful style so much, they should focus on "slowing down slightly".
After a scare against the USA, where skipper Suryakumar Yadav's masterclass 84* took India to a match-winning total of 161, Men in Blue would be aiming to resume their regular services by bringing massive sixes and shattering records during their T20 WC clash against Namibia at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. Speaking on JioStar's 'Follow the Blues', Bangar informed that Indian batters do not need to overthink their approach after their match against the USA, "I do not think Indian batters should overanalyse what happened at Wankhede against the USA, because the approach this Indian batting line-up plays with nowadays in T20 cricket is obviously fraught with risk. On days like that, when a couple of wickets fall, and you still want to keep going hard, you are bound to lose wickets in clusters. If there is a lesson, it is to slow down slightly without doubting your approach, because that fearless style has given you a lot of success. Keep backing your abilities and keep playing the way this Indian batting unit has approached T20 cricket over the last 18 months or so." He also hailed all-rounder Washington Sundar's improved fitness, as evident by him doing both batting and bowling yesterday as a great news, pointing out the team's confidence in his abilities. He had been out of action since a while due to injury, missing the New Zealand T20Is due to injury. However, he said with Jasprit Bumrah "certainly" making it to playing XI, Mohammed Siraj, who made a triumphant return to the T20I set-up for first time since 2024 with a three-fer against the USA, as someone who could miss out. "The fact that they persisted with him in the squad despite his unavailability at the start of the tournament shows they want to maintain a similar team combination. If, say for instance, a spin-bowling all-rounder is required, Washington Sundar can certainly come in. But I don't see him playing in Delhi. I certainly see Jasprit Bumrah making it to the playing eleven, with the in-form Mohammed Siraj the one likely to miss out," he added. Speaking on India's batting line-up, he called it a "great mix of maturity as well as fearlessness". "Now, in terms of maturity, you have players who can adjust to the needs of the situation. Tilak Varma bats in that fashion, as do Surya and Hardik. So, if India find themselves in a similar position again, the onus may be on one of those three to steady the innings a little bit, while the batters around them continue to play the way they have been playing. That is something the team and the batting group might discuss going forward," he signed off. Squads: India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar Namibia Squad: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus(c), JJ Smit, Zane Green(w), Ruben Trumpelmann, Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo, Malan Kruger, Ben Shikongo, Jack Brassell, Jan Balt. (ANI)
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