T20 World Cup: India head for Colombo next, but with their share of worries

A 93-run win against minnows Namibia and a spot on top of their group should ideally have placed India in a good mindspace as they leave for Colombo for the much-awaited game against Pakistan on Sunday. It seems that on the contrary, they are leaving with a few niggling worries to sort out.

Both their initial wins have come against opposition like the US and Namibia, but there were stretches in both the games when their much hyped batting order was exposed by the rival bowlers. There were few extraordinary efforts like the one from captain Suryakumar Yadav against the US; comeback man Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya in the second game but the middle order has failed to click together. “Cricket is a leveller,” Surya candidly pointed out after the game – but there is no denying that they need to bring their A game together in two days’ time against Pakistan, who will be enjoying a ‘home advantage’ this time in Colombo.

Here’s a look at some of the headaches for India ahead of the Pakistan game:

Will Abhishek Sharma play?: There is a serious question mark over whether Abhishek Sharma, who had been so crucial to India’s unstoppable run in this format for the past one year, can play on Sunday. The world No.1 T20 batter, who was hospitalised with a stomach infection during the team’s stay in the capital, was seen in the dugout during the Namibia game but did not participate in any knocking session for players not in the playing XI.

There is also some media feedback that he had lost some weight over the past week, which makes his fitness questionable for the demanding game against Pakistan. The left hander, whose 74 off 39 balls in the Super Four clash against Pakistan in 2025 Asia Cup made India’s chase a walk in the park, will be sorely missed if he has to sit out the crunch game. The captain virtually gave it away when he said the opener may need ''one or two games more'' to regain match-fitness.

India will then have to resort to the combination of Ishan and Sanju Samson, but the later had been under fire for not being able to capitalise on his opportunities and failed to build on a good start against Namibia on Thursday.

Middle order blues: This is certainly a cause of concern, especially the way the hosts lost wickets in clusters against Namibia. Even if the collapse to 77 for six in the opener can be attributed to the surprise bounce that US bowlers generated in Mumbai, alongwith some cavalier strokeplay, their capitulation on a slightly challenging wicket at the Arun Jaitley Stadium should invite a dressing down from Gautam Gambhir.

First, they were reduced from 104 for one (in seven overs) to 124 for four and then again in the death overs, they lost five wickets for four runs off the last 11 deliveries of the innings.  Rinku Singh and Akshar Patel, two of the lower order batters who are capable of giving the late charge, came a cropper. “Looking at the death overs, when we were not able to regularly hit big sixes, we need to also give credit to the Namibia bowlers because they were bang on with their yorkers, they were bang on with their slower ones,” remarked Kishan, who reached his fifty off 20 deliveries before falling for 61.

Tackling spin: From what was an inherent quality among Indian batters not so long ago, they now look suspect against spin and the way Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus used his cricketing intelligence to return with figures of 4-0-20-4 (Ishan, Tilak Varma, Pandya and Axar) deserves huge kudos. Far from being a classical off spinner like South Africa’s Simon Harmer who ran through India in a Test series late last year, Erasmus fires his slinging off-breaks often from well behind the bowling crease to catch the batters off guard.

After letting him seize the initiative, the Indian batters could be wary of the tall Usman Tariq, the new Pakistan sensation who lies in wait the next. A slinging offie like Erasmus, Usman has an unconventional action to say the least and stops on his way to his delivery – something which has stirred up a debate in the cricketing community. The sluggish wickets in Colombo will offer the Indian batters a different kind of challenge against Pakistan who will unleash a spin-heavy attack against their rivals.

The question  nows is: in a virtually one-dimensional batting line-up, will India be missing the likes of a Shubman Gill or Shreyas Iyer? The fans will find out soon!