Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai
There was something remarkable in Rachin Ravindra’s 134 off 157 balls at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was Test cricket, but the New Zealand batter played with the tempo of the shorter formats. He took the attack to the Indian spinners and the famed spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were caught off guard.
Courtesy ESPNcricinfo stats, breaking the numbers is important here. Rachin had played 95 deliveries of spin in that innings in Bengaluru last October and scored 101 runs — 30 off 35 from Ashwin, 30 off 21 from Kuldeep and 41 off 39 against Jadeja. He set the template for playing spin on turning pitches, against quality tweakers. New Zealand’s calculated aggression sowed the seeds of a memorable 3-0 whitewash.
Fifty-over cricket is different. The field is usually spread out when spinners bowl. Also, the larger boundaries at the Dubai International Stadium make clearing the rope a little more difficult. Of all the teams, New Zealand batters have played the Indian spinners the best of late. As they face India in the Champions Trophy’s group league match on Sunday, will they take a leaf out of their Test book?
Glenn Phillips, who came at the pre-match presser, made a well-rounded observation. “I think in Test cricket, it definitely was. When it came to situations where we were playing on pitches that were turning significantly, it was more of a runs game as opposed to a matter of time,” he said.
The batting all-rounder also spoke about how things change a bit in ODIs. “With there obviously only being 50 overs, the game plans slightly change to be able to, I guess, counteract (to) situations of the game. The middle phase becomes very important.”
In the ongoing tournament, New Zealand have handled the middle phase brilliantly. Tom Latham (118) and Phillips (61) added 125 runs for the fifth wicket against Pakistan. Rachin (112) and Latham (55) did it in a 129-run fourth-wicket partnership against Bangladesh. Along with India, the BLACKCAPS are the most well-balanced team in the Champions Trophy.
Sunday’s game could be a dress rehearsal for the final.