07 November,2021 07:23 AM IST | Dubai | Santosh Suri
India skipper Virat Kohli (right) and Ravindra Jadeja celebrate the wicket of Scotland’s Matthew Cross in Dubai on Friday. Pic/AFP
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party." Typing teacher Charles E Weller's famous line for his students to learn typing, aptly sums up the way things are for India in the T20 World Cup. They are on the cusp of elimination and qualification, and not everything is in their hands.
The "party" in the quote is Team India and the "good men" are Afghanistan. Millions of Indian supporters worldwide would be glued to the TV sets today, to see if Afghanistan can upset New Zealand and open a window for India to sneak into the semi-finals.
The good thing for India is that they have kept up their side of the challenge after the two disastrous matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, by routing Afghanistan and Scotland in successive games to vastly improve their net run-rate (NRR), which is now better than the other two semi-final contenders, Afghanistan and New Zealand. Pakistan have already taken one slot from the group.
Afghanistan skipper Mohd Nabi
If the Afghans are able to stun the Kiwis in Abu Dhabi today, it will all boil down to India's final league match against Namibia on Monday in Dubai and from the way India have played in the last two matches, there is little doubt that the Men in Blue will not let that opening go waste as they are more than capable of achieving a big enough victory over Namibia so that they end up with a superior NRR and make it to the November 11 semi-finals. In this tournament, India have been like an old car which has taken time to rev up, but once in motion it has motored along. And it is good that most of the players have got back into the groove.
India's captain Virat Kohli was mighty thrilled when on his birthday on Friday, India registered their biggest win in terms of balls remaining (81 balls) in T20Is, which not only kept the fans interest alive but also the team's prospects in the tournament.
"It was a dominating performance. It was something we were striving to do again [after the Afghanistan match]. I don't want to say too much about today because we know how we can play. I'm just pleased everyone is getting into their own and we're glad to be back in our mojo," Kohli said after the eight-wicket victory over Scotland.
How did India go about planning against Scotland? "We spoke about 100-120 max, but we restricted them to a total [85] that allowed us to leapfrog everyone else [in terms on NRR]. We spoke about finishing in the 8-10 overs bracket [and India did win in just 6.3 overs]. You don't want to go in with six-and-a-half or a seven-and-a-half run mark because then you're doing too much. We gave that bracket and allowed the openers to get that momentum."
Ravindra Jadeja, the Man of the Match for his 3-15, his best bowling effort in T20Is, was asked at the post-match media interaction, "What happens if Afghanistan are not able to beat New Zealand?" His poker-faced reply left everyone in splits: "What else can we do...we will pack our bags and return home."
The Indian supporters, meanwhile, will keep praying for a miracle and will be hoping against hope that their team delay their departure by a few days and enter the November 14 final.
Also Read: Net Run Rate zooms after Scotland win, but India still in a desperate situation
