Mighty India finally arrive at the T20 World Cup

AADAM PATEL in Abu Dhabi: India had to send a message and they did it in the most emphatic fashion – with a total of 210 for 2, the highest of the T20 World Cup so far

So, this is the mighty India the cricketing world expected to see in the UAE. It's taken the best part of a fortnight, but the team who were billed as the runaway favourites for the tournament have finally decided to turn up.

It may just be a tad too little, too late but boy, did they turn up.

India needed to send a message and they did it in the most emphatic fashion - with a total of 210 for 2, the highest of the T20 World Cup so far. The elegance of Rohit Sharma (74 off 47), the execution of KL Rahul (69 off 48), the extravagance of Rishabh Pant (27 off 13) and the exuberance of Hardik Pandya (35 off 12), this was vintage India.

Afghanistan never got close, eventually ending on 144 for 7. Unfortunately for them, they were on the other end of an outfit who must have felt like they had a national duty to make a statement.

It was a performance that showcased the sheer wealth of talent that India possess and one that must have left the fans inside the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and at home wondering what on earth had unfolded in their opening two games.

W.

India get a win on the board.#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/GgP7Rsmzja

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) November 3, 2021

For starters, they would surely not have expected to be playing with the prospect of elimination on the line in just their third match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 but here they were.Successive Sunday evenings in Dubai spent getting dispatched by Pakistan and New Zealand meant it was now or never for India. Thankfully for them, Abu Dhabi on a Wednesday provided much better fortunes.

After losing yet another toss and being put into bat, Virat Kohli must have wondered whether anything was going to work out for him at this tournament. He confirmed he was looking to bowl first. By the time his openers raced to 53 without loss at the end of the powerplay, he must have had a wry smile that the coin didn’t land in his favour.

The platform was set by the two openers with their fourth century partnership in T20 internationals, this one their largest. Sharma and Rahul needed a score; both exhibiting their class in a partnership of 140 in just 14.4 overs, which included 14 fours and five sixes. It was an hour or so of majestic batting that could be archived under the title of a masterclass. Brutal in terms of the number on the scoreboard, yet beautiful in terms of execution as they drove, placed and smashed the ball all around Abu Dhabi.

The phenomenon that is Rashid Khan, one wicket away from 400 in all T20 cricket competitions, was met initially with great respect, before even he was taken for consecutive sixes at the end of his third over. The first, a flowing Sharma dancing down the pitch to meet the music of Khan and send the ball over deep midwicket. The second, a superb slog-sweep over square leg.

And for Sharma and Rahul, they were welcome knocks given recent form, and even more so after seeing the likes of openers Jos Buttler, Mohammed Rizwan and Martin Guptill all going big in over the past few days.

Afghanistan’s eventual breakthrough came in the 15th over, Sharma hitting one straight from Karim Janat to extra cover, before Rahul was deceived by a slower one from Gulbadin Naib.

Such was the devastating nature of the opening partnership, that captain Kohli wasn’t required - the first time he hasn't batted in his T20 career when his team has batted first. Instead, the duties of taking over the party fell upon none other than Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya.

For Afghanistan, battered and bruised, they could probably have thought of a million better sights than this dynamic duo strolling to the crease with the best part of five overs to do nothing but wreak havoc.

And wreak havoc they did. The Pandya-Pant combination added 63 off 21, including five fours and five sixes, to catapult India to the first 200-plus score of the tournament. The first of Pant’s three sixes, a trademark one-hander audaciously hit straight back over the bowler’s head, was followed by an even sweeter strike off the next ball. He brought up the 200 in typical Pant-esque fashion, without moving his feet and almost falling over as he sent a slower ball over the ropes.

As if Pant wasn’t enough to deal with, Pandya took the wonderful Hamid Hassan, whose first couple of overs were on point, for three boundaries in an over, before making Afghanistan pay for a dropped catch in the 19th with two quite stunning sixes off the bowling of Naveen-ul-Haq.

Afghanistan never really looked threatening in their pursuit of 211 as they slipped to 69 for 5 before some late hitting from captain Mohammad Nabi and Karim Janat lifted them to a somewhat respectable total. It is likely win or bust from them when they take on the Black Caps at the same venue on Sunday.

As the Indian players strolled off smiling, at long last, there were shades of Trinidad in 2007 where India smashed 413 past Bermuda after a shock defeat to Bangladesh. That year, they failed to make it past the group stage.

Speaking post-match, Kohli said, “we know how we can play” and right now, that’s all they can do. That, and hope. Hope that, this time around, with the helping hand of others - most notably their vanquished opponents Afghanistan, things will be a little different and they can extend their stay in the UAE for another week.

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