Rohit's Spin Gamble Pays Off as India Outplay Afghanistan

Skipper's Strategy of Four Spinners Justified After Dominant Win

Jun 22, 2024 - 11:33
Rohit's Spin Gamble Pays Off as India Outplay Afghanistan
Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma often plays the cards close to his chest, which often leaves other people perplexed.

There were concerns about the effectiveness of the team management and chief selector Ajit Agarkar's plan to choose four tweakers for the T20 World Cup and rely solely on spin.


In an international World Cup, having just three expert pacers seemed absurd and out of place. However, Rohit was reluctant to share many details about the strategies used for the slow-moving pitches in the Caribbean.

"I don't want to get too specific... After the selection last month, Rohit gave his maiden press conference in Mumbai and said, "I'm sure opposition captains are listening to this."

"We have a lot of cricket experience from the West Indies. We are aware of the circumstances. There's a little bit of technical aspect involved in this, as the morning starts at 10.30am," the Team India captain kept everyone in suspense.

The opening game of their Super Eight campaign provided enough clarity for Rohit to make his predictions. He chose two left-arm orthodox and two wrist spinners since he had assessed the spinners' value in the middle overs.

One of the most formidable and formidable strike forces in the competition may turn out to be the Indian one. With Hardik Pandya at their side, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah won in favorable conditions for seamers in New York.

The way the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja formed a line and made decisions following the Powerplay on Thursday, which rendered the erratic and free-flowing Afghan bats useless.

It's no secret that the spinners were able to exert a great deal of authority on the slow Kensington Oval pitch thanks to Bumrah's fast bowling. Even with three left-arm spinners, India's assault was varied enough to unsettle Afghanistan as the ball gripped and twisted off the surface.

On Thursday, even Rashid Khan was back to his deadly best. His 3/26 threatened to bring India to its knees, but Suryakumar Yadav's brilliance stood in the way.

The other day, the England duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali demonstrated once more how important strong spinners are in these circumstances by controlling the threat posed by the powerful West Indies hitters.

One of the most astute and modest middle-overs players, Adam Zampa, has been helping the Australians too.

Much in advance, Rohit had developed his creative self to figure out the secret to success when making West Indian pitching. If the squad ends their ICC trophy drought, he might brag about his secret game plan.

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