Dubai: India’s tight schedule may have been to blame for their poor performance against Hong Kong in the Unimoni Asia Cup on Tuesday.
The schedule is seen as pushing their players to the limit, with some not getting enough rest after a series while a few others have been unable to prepare better for the event.
India rested their main bowlers and some star batsmen for the narrow Group A win over Hong Kong. If India lost the match it would have been the biggest defeat in ODI cricket.
History will not remember that they were without their top players ahead of the clash with arch-rivals Pakistan, but that as the world’s best One-day International (ODI) side, they crumbled against Associate nation.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who bagged the man of the match, said: “Some of our bowlers were playing after a long time. Like Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] coming after a break, Shardul [Thakur] was in England but he didn’t play a match for two months. So it takes time to get into the rhythm as well.”
Playing bowlers without preparing them can be dangerous and so is resting players due to the England tour that ended three days before the start of the Asia Cup. Pakistan played their best team and hence scored an emphatic eight-wicket win over Hong Kong. They did not rest their star bowler Mohammad Amir nor their star batsmen Fakhar Zaman or Babar Azam.
The Indians were back at the stadium to play Pakistan after the Hong Kong match within just 13 hours after they reached their hotel, that too well past midnight.
Dhawan admitted the schedule could have been better planned but quickly put on a brave face.
“The ideal situation will be to have a break and then play,” he said. “We all are humans, so we also get tired as well. But at the same time, we are quite strong enough.”
This leaves the question whether senior players or coaching staff are not being consulted by the Indian cricket officials before finalising their schedule. The Indian team have got many experienced players who are aware that teams such as Hong Kong have nothing to lose and will be out to produce a surprise.
Interestingly, after the match, Dhawan said: “We didn’t expect that they were going to score a 174-run partnership. But they played well and, of course, we could have been more consistent in our bowling but we have to give credit to their batsmen. Both the opening batsmen played really well. The way they played their shots and the way they were calculative about scoring runs, it was good. I have to appreciate their good batting as well.”
When Gulf News asked whether they did watch Hong Kong players in action on videos before the match, Dhawan said: “Not that we didn’t know much about Hong Kong, of course, we watched videos of their player’s batting and bowling. There wasn’t much of a swing or seam on the wicket.”
It is India’s experience and Hong Kong’s inability to carry the momentum that resulted in India winning the match.
“We knew that once we get the top-order wickets, we can come back in the game, Dhawan said. “Obviously, they gave a decent fight and it is always good to learn from every match.”
Salute a senior Indian player for admitting that a lesson can be learnt from an associate nation too.
