Is India ready for the Colombo challenge?

 

Team India. Image :Revsportz

India secured an emphatic, record-breaking and reassuring 93-run win over Namibia. The nerves that were raw in the first game against USA seemed to have settled down in their second fixture of the tournament. India have 10 consecutive wins in the T20 World Cup now and they are making the tournament look like it is theirs to lose. But even though India secured two out of two, the batting performance warrants a closer examination.

As always, the most important part of the match was the power play. India hammered 86 runs in the first six overs thanks to Ishan Kishan’s exploits, who went on to score 61 off 24 balls and set the tempo for the game. Ever since his comeback in the T20I squad, his clarity of intent against spin and pace has been impressive. It is high-risk cricket, but at the same, unlike his partner, Abhishek Sharma, it is calculated.

However, the middle phase once again told a more nuanced story. Bernard Scholtz and Gerhard Erasmus slowed the scoring rate considerably. Erasmus, in particular, was exceptional with his variations, sometimes even throwing in a sling-arm delivery to confuse the batters. He finished with four wickets, India had slipped from a position of total dominance into a brief consolidation period. At 124 for 4, the innings had lost its early momentum.

And this is where the question comes in. Are India ready for Colombo? While the Arun Jaitley Stadium is no R Premadasa, there are similarities in the surface. Delhi offers an equal contest with the bat and ball, it is two-paced and sometimes stays low and slow. On surfaces like these, the ability to manage overs 7 to 15 becomes critical.

While Hardik Pandya’s 52 off 28 ensured India crossed 200, there remains a sense that the total could have been larger. From 86 in six overs, 220 to 230 was achievable. Instead, a late collapse, losing five wickets in the final two overs, exposed a minor but important vulnerability in closing out innings with maximum efficiency.

Against a team like Namibia, the margin does not matter. Against higher quality attacks in Colombo, those extra 15 to 20 runs could be decisive. But a positive that remains for India is that contributions come from multiple sources. Kishan’s aggression, Pandya’s acceleration and supporting 20s from the middle-order indicate depth. The approach is proactive rather than reactive.

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The larger takeaway is India’s batting unit now appears settled in intent and structure. The aggression is deliberate. But Colombo will test adaptability more than momentum. If the surfaces slow down and early boundaries are harder to come by, India will need to demonstrate patience without losing scoring intent. Stumbling against spin is exposing soft spots. The Namibia game confirmed India’s firepower. The Colombo challenge will test their control.

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