India’s senior spinner R Ashwin is not a fan of match-ups but is agreeable on some points of it.
Under the able guidance of Rahul Dravid, Team India have become a data-driven unit.
But, Ashwin believes that players must not take these match-ups innately and focus on improving their skill sets more.
I don’t think players innately have to necessarily believe in matchups, but I think it’s an area that teams and tactical edges are happening around.
The term match-up is used nowadays in cricket which means according to particular data which batsman should be paired up against which bowler and vice-versa.
Adding further, Ashwin says,
I think it’s safe to say that one end of the spectrum is to plan for all those things (match-ups), but as a bowler you need to constantly bowl to a lot of batters.
Ashwin stressed the fact that all bowlers must know all the Achilles heels of all the batters.
He feels when bowlers have different skills for different batsmen that’s when they can be more effective.
This is also the first time that India is playing in Australian winter conditions.
Other teams like Sri Lanka, Australia, and England have played two matches at one venue. But, India due to commercial commitments have been city-hopping.
Ashwin says,
Some other teams have managed to stay in one venue and play at a certain venue a couple of times, which Indian team hasn’t had the luxury of doing and rightly so. There are a lot of Indian people around the country that want to watch the game, so it’s understandable.
India are going to play Zimbabwe for their final Group 2 match which will seal their fate of whether or not they will make it to the semis.
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