India need good start from openers: Sunil Gavaskar

WHEN two well-matched teams square up in a T20 game in conditions that are not going to change over 40 overs, then invariably the team that wins the toss opts to chaseknowing that it is a lot easier to do so than setting a target. If there is going to be no dew or the overhead conditions remain the same then it’s always better to field first.
You know what the asking rate is and can pace the innings accordingly.On the other hand, the team batting first has little option but to try and smash the ball from the word go, as they don’t know what a safe total would be. In attempting that if they lose early wickets especially in the first six overs of field restrictions then it becomes hard to put up a challenging target.
India lost their first three wickets in a heap including that of the previous game centurion KL Rahul, to a forgettable shot.
England had used the spin bowling machine called ‘Merlyn’ after their first match disaster against Kuldeep Yadav to try and get used to playing spin. That may have helped but it was more of strengthening the mind than anything else and learning from the previous game.
So most of the English batsmen waited on the back foot to Kuldeep to see which way the ball was going to turn and that worked as they could push him away for singles and twos on the big side boundaries and when he bowled further up to the bat they could swing their bats and hit the six on the shorter straight boundaries. Alex Hales, who looked all at sea in the first game, batted positively. The latter, who got a golden duck in the first game stretching forward, was waiting on the backfoot this time around and looked the better for it.
India need a good start from their openers and they haven’t got it in the first two games and so that’s putting pressure on those coming after to bat. If they can avoid losing wickets in the powerplay over they give themselves a good chance to put up a good score.