DUBAI: Thanks to the schedule, India have taken a largely unnecessary week’s break between their first and second match. Now, they have just a day's turnaround between their last league match and the first semifinal, leaving the team with a slight worry regarding the recovery of their bowlers, especially pacemen.
Much of this haphazard scheduling owes itself to the hybrid model, with the event being staged across India and Pakistan. During India's practice session on Friday, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate highlighted the need to keep the team's bowlers fresh going into the business end of the tournament.
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Assured of a semifinal spot, India will have to ensure their top players are well-rested, while at the same time, not game-starved. India must also top the pool to avoid Australia.
"We've had two pretty tough training sessions, so that's been the preparation. In terms of bench strength, I think the priority is making sure that we have our best guys available and fully fit for the second game (the semifinal on March 4). But we also don't want to rest them for another two days either.
"So, to get that balance right, we might just try to share the bowling out a little bit. We obviously want to win against New Zealand as well. It's important that we keep that momentum going and top the group. The balance of those things has to be thought about," ten Doeschate said.
Doeschate hinted at the possibility of India's bowlers not bowling their quota of 10 overs on Sunday as a way to preserve them for Tuesday's semifinal. "They've had a lot of rest but it's how you back the two games up. If the seamers are going to bowl 10 overs, and then say we bowl second in the first game, and 36 hours later we're bowling first, that's quite a workload," he said.
