Champions Trophy, IND vs PAK: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, speaking to India Today, shed light on Virat Kohli's dominant hundred against Pakistan in India's six-wicket win in Dubai. Kohli hit 100 off 111 deliveries as India chased down 242.
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00:00Hello and welcome to battle of champions once again we're coming to you live from Dubai
00:17because this is the city where all the cricket action is it's a nice afternoon here in Dubai
00:22nice because you know it's the day after after India have won their first match of the tournament
00:29a comfortable win at that India got versus Bangladesh but that is done and dusted you
00:34have to focus on the road ahead two big games coming up for the Indian team and the first
00:39one is going to be India versus Pakistan the mother of all clashes the one that everyone's
00:45been waiting for if you saw the game versus Bangladesh not a full house but believe you
00:50me what I'm hearing here in Dubai India Pakistan already sold out no tickets available for
00:56that big encounter that will take place in Dubai the Pakistan team arrived here yesterday
01:02in fact they are going to be practicing a very short while from now I am actually coming
01:06to you live from the ICC Cricket Academy and this is exactly where the Pakistan team is
01:10going to be coming and they'll be practicing to the ground that is just to the left of
01:14me and of course we'll bring you all the latest updates from the Pakistan practice but let's
01:20just focus on India's strengths and weaknesses and they were on display in India's first
01:25game as I mentioned versus Bangladesh India now remember have an advantage they've played
01:29a game here in Dubai Pakistan are fresh off the board they'll be playing the first game
01:33in Dubai so what are the lessons that the Indian team can take from that first game
01:38in Dubai in terms of pitch and playing conditions and what are those things that they'll be
01:43mindful of when they take on Pakistan in the exact same conditions in the exact same stadium
01:49a six-wicket win for the Indian team in the opening fixture has got them up and running
01:58in the Champions Trophy while India got exactly the start they would have liked there were a few
02:07lessons for them the sluggish nature of the pitch in Dubai has told all teams that it's a bad first
02:22wicket with run scoring likely to be difficult in the second innings he offers a smile while
02:28the total wasn't daunting the Indian team still needed nearly 47 overs to get to 231 runs in fact
02:36in ODIs since 2018 the average winning total at the venue has been 252 the Indian team has been
02:54shuffling its number five and six over the last four ODIs which means that KL Rahul has been made
03:00to bat out of position while KL Rahul played a crucial knock against Bangladesh promoting
03:07Aksar ahead of him did not pay the dividends in Dubai playing KL Rahul in his natural position
03:15and giving him more time in the middle could bode well for the Indian team
03:19well India made a superb start with the new ball they were found wanting in the middle overs after
03:35the ninth over India had to wait till the 43rd over to get their next breakthrough they need
03:42to go big better oppositions could pose a bigger challenge for India if the middle over lull
03:47continues
03:58Kohli's Achilles heel in ODIs over the last few months has been spin bowling again it's
04:05done for him his dismissal to Rashad Hussain made it the sixth time that he fell to a spinner in as
04:11many innings on a slow deck in Dubai where spinners are likely to play a crucial role
04:16Kohli needs to figure out a way of tackling the spin threat so he's the kind of guy that
04:29Shubman Gill stood out among the Indian batters scoring a crafty hundred his strike rate of 78
04:38was a lesson for everyone how to pace the innings on a sluggish Dubai wicket
04:4448 of his 101 runs came in boundaries and the rest in singles and doubles
04:51an invaluable knock for his side Sports Bureau India today not been an easy chase
04:58but he's made batting look easier right plenty of positives for the Indian team in that win
05:04but if there were any hiccups they can sort that out as they get into the tournament proper with
05:09a big game coming up versus Pakistan and that's going to be a focus on the broadcast for the next
05:1420 odd minutes that we are live you're going to be joined by our cricket analyst in Sunny Gavaskar
05:20Sahi bhai let's try and set up this contest India versus Pakistan always the marquee clash
05:25in any tournament I know everyone's picked India as the favorite but do you think it's as
05:30clear-cut as that India clear favorite so do you think this Pakistan team
05:35despite a setback in their first game can spring a surprise
05:41look at cricket anything can happen you need just one player to be the game changer
05:46whether it's with the bat or the ball and Pakistan had always had mercurial players
05:50you know somebody you know who will come in and play a blinder or somebody who will you know
05:54a bowl of an amazing spell that kind of a they've always had that so it's very
06:00difficult uh to to say totally that India tried favorite but you look at the all-around strength
06:05of the Indian team the batting depth that the Indian team has the variety at the top of the
06:09batting as well somebody like a Rohit Sharma who'll go bang bang from the first ball Shubman
06:14Gill who'll work his way around Rahul down the order Hardik Pandya down the order so there's
06:18there's so much of all-around strength in the Indian team so they clearly start the favorites
06:24um okay so anyway you know it's often said I know it's a cliche but it's often said
06:30India versus Pakistan is a game where it's a game of nerves whichever team handles pressure better
06:36ends up on the winning side uh would it be fair to say that considering how the tournament has
06:42panned out so far India registering their win versus Bangladesh whereas Pakistan losing their
06:47first encounter and now it's almost going to be a do or a die game for the Pakistan team versus
06:52India fair to say that Pakistan would be the team under more pressure compared to India
07:00definitely no question whatsoever they will be under far more pressure having lost their first
07:05game to New Zealand they'll be under far more pressure India but that said the champions
07:09trophy is the one one tournament where they have managed to score over India not the world cups
07:15not the T20 world cups but in the champion champions trophy so maybe that is something
07:20that they'll be looking to hang on to as far as getting their confidence back
07:27so we started this particular broadcast looking at the areas that India can improve upon if I was
07:32to ask you the same question uh from that win versus Bangladesh of course India have that
07:37advantage they've played a game here in Dubai whereas Pakistan will be playing their first
07:42game of the tournament here so you know to get used to the conditions they don't have that much
07:47time India in that sense would be prepared having played against Bangladesh what are the lessons you
07:52think India can take from that game and then utilize those particular lessons in the game
07:56versus Pakistan well the learning would be obviously about the pitch that's also an important
08:02factor probably the most important factor and from from that they will know that you know what they
08:07need to do look the pace has got the wickets from both teams when you look at the the the wickets
08:12taken by Harshad Rana picking a couple of wickets and then from the Pakistan team as well
08:20we did basis I'm sorry from the Bangladesh team as well there were a couple of wickets taken and
08:26so clearly therefore there was you know the fact that you know while the pace has got the wickets
08:32you have to look at that but the spinners were the ones who kept control the spinners were the
08:36ones who really bowled tightly for both both the teams and so therefore I would imagine that they
08:41would look maybe maybe maybe maybe with Hardik Pandya coming in as a as a new ball bowler they
08:46may look to go in with an extra spin bowler in Varun Chakravorty for the game against Pakistan
08:54okay that's those are very interesting thoughts by Sunny Gavaskar you know it's I'd have to say
08:59something by a bit of left field selection out of the box where you think go in with that extra
09:04spinner India already playing three now you're saying four spinners do you think you know keeping
09:10that in mind Pakistan on the other hand have only got you know one spinner in their ranks do you
09:16think that that they'd be ruining that fact that here listen here's his Indian team which might be
09:21thinking of playing four spinners on the track that you have in Dubai and they've only selected
09:25one spinner in a bra well yes I would imagine so because look I think yes Pakistan strength
09:32has always been their fast bowling but and maybe because they do not really have the kind of
09:39quality spinners that they had like in Abdul Kader, Iqbal Qasim, Tauseer Fahmad that you know
09:46those kind of spinners are probably not around and which is the reason why they have gone with
09:51with a pace strong attack and just one spinner but these are slow pitches the pitches in Dubai
09:57because of a lot of cricket being played there the IIT 20 just finished about a week ago
10:01week 10 days ago before that there were a lot of matches being played UAE teams were playing
10:05a lot of matches there so the pitch is tired we saw it in the Bangladesh game there was no
10:11grasp on the pitch and therefore the bowlers were the spinners were able to get a little more
10:16out of it than the quick stick. Okay you spoke about Pakistan's bowling, let's take a closer
10:23look at their batting because that came under scrutiny in the game versus New Zealand and you
10:28know if you're looking at it from the outside one thing that really disrupted their batting
10:32combination in that game Fakhar Zaman, injury to Fakhar Zaman he comes down the order completely
10:36upsets that batting order now they've come into this tournament you know with Saim Ayub one of
10:42their rising stars injured that was a jolt to begin with now Fakhar Zaman the other guy who
10:46could really give them the start that they needed is injured they've got Imamul Haq now
10:51do you think that's disrupted Pakistan's batting and that has really put them in the back foot in
10:57this tournament? Well openers are so essential we we see that with any team opening batting
11:05opening bowling they give the get the teams off to a good start opening bowlers take your wickets
11:09in the first 10 overs opening batters don't lose wickets and get to maybe 50 60 in the first 10
11:15overs that makes a big difference so with an opener gone and and somebody who's who really
11:20is playing the fifth kilo
11:23Fakhar Zaman that low as far as Pakistan's concerned Imamul Haq is a very fine player
11:29he's got hundreds in the one day one day game Imamul Haq is a very fine player
11:34but I would imagine that you know Pakistan will feel just a little bit left out
11:42okay we spoke about the problem areas of the Pakistan batting lineup and there are plenty
11:47quite contrasting to where the Indian team find themselves at the moment
11:50most areas seem to be sorted they had a few hiccups in the game versus Bangladesh but overall as we
11:56saw versus England in that series right before this tournament and now the batting does seem
12:01pretty much sorted there is one area though that would have the Indian team concerned
12:05as far as their batting is spoken about and that is the form of their star batter Virat Kohli and
12:12it's not just about him not getting run it's also about the manner in which he's getting out
12:17similar dismissals against similar kinds of bowlers and the word is out that bring on a
12:22leg spinner and Virat Kohli is in trouble let's take a closer look at what is really ailing India's
12:29ace batter a worrying trend has emerged in India's ODI setup and it is the form of Virat Kohli
12:38his technique has been found wanting against spinners and that in all likelihood is the
12:44root cause behind Kohli's slump getting out to a spinner is one thing but Kohli's inability to
12:51come out on top against the spinners is now hurting India when the form is not there with you
12:58you know this is exactly what happened you tend to take a lot more time you tend to take you know
13:04more deliveries to get settled and that's exactly what is happening with Virat Kohli
13:08cricket is a great leveller and it goes on to show that no matter how big a player you are
13:13you know your reputation will not count the India number three has managed just 137 runs in the last
13:21six ODI innings that he's played after the 2023 world cup with a solitary half century
13:27strikingly five dismissals have come to right arm leg spin
13:31while the remaining one was against a left arm spinner
13:38former India captain and coach Anil Kumble feels that Kohli is trying too hard and that's making
13:43it tougher for him to find form and he probably needs a leaf out of Rohit Sharma's book
13:50when we compare Kohli's prowess against spin from his ODI debut until 2019 he tackled slow bowlers
13:57well on a consistent basis but in the last five years his weakness has now come to the fore
14:04Kohli is falling to spin in every two ODI innings in comparison to pre-2019
14:09when he fell to them once every four innings
14:20just ahead of the champions trophy Kohli's struggles were magnified against leg spinner
14:25Adil Rashid in the England series he edged deliveries which spun away in both Cuttack
14:31and Ahemdabad there have been many stories of Kohli's stellar comebacks on previous occasions
14:38what helped him overcome the difficult times was mental toughness but this time around
14:43a prolonged slump has raised major concerns about his ability to bounce back
14:51given the high standards he has for himself Virat would hope to rectify the spin issue
14:56and look to get into the 2023 world cup mold
14:59where he finished as the tournament's highest run getter Sports Bureau India Today
15:08okay Sunny Gavaskar still live with us Sunny bhai those are telling stats uh you know that we just
15:14uh presented to our viewers I think last six dismissals five have come against a leg spinner
15:21that stat between 2019 pre-2019 gets out to spinner one every four innings from 2019 onwards
15:28is getting out to one every second inning is a dismissal to a spinner these are really telling
15:33numbers I mean it's not that Virat hasn't been out of form he has been out of form throughout
15:37his long career but he's found a way to come back now it's becoming increasingly open secret that
15:45leg spinners or slow bowlers are troubling him do you think the teams are now mindful of that
15:50everyone knows about it and now the strategy is simple Virat is there in white ball cricket
15:54bring on a spinner and there you have it his wicket it is it is it is to a great extent due
16:01to the fact that the bat face opens up say as same thing happens when when he's playing against the
16:06quicks uh in australia the bat face opening up looking to play through the covers opening the
16:10face of the bat that gets him into trouble so that is something that he's going to watch out
16:15for even when he got out in a couple of times before he got out he reached for the shot the
16:21ball turned the bat face opened and luckily the bat face opened and so there was no nick so that
16:26is something that he'll have to tighten up on now but yes I guess uh if you're getting out
16:31to the same kind of bowling then you you you there is a there's a bit of concern there
16:39okay that was about Virat Kohli how he should approach the game but rest of the
16:42Indian batters we saw not a great pitch to bat on in their first game what is the ideal approach
16:47Indian batters must have when they're facing Pakistan here in Dubai
16:53I think it whatever happened actually happened for the best because if India having dismissed
16:58the Bangladesh half the team for 35 and knocked them out for 125 for example that would not have
17:05really tested them at all that would not have tested them at all it would have it would have
17:09been uh you know just a walk over but having this where they had to go deep certainly has helped
17:15India as far as I'm concerned uh that their batters their bowlers both have had a measure
17:20of what the pitch will be doing the pitch for the the game is not the same pitch in Dubai just a
17:25couple of you know pitches away so it could be maybe just a little bit harder just a little bit
17:31quicker but again the experience of India having played over there just getting the feeling you
17:37know the atmosphere around will definitely be a big plus as far as India is concerned
17:44all right Sanjeev I will leave it at that thanks so much for taking our time speaking to us on
17:48India today but here's a reminder we'll have our continuous coverage for that big India Pakistan
17:53clash tomorrow same time 6 30 p.m we'll have Harbhajan Singh Sunil Gavaskar looking ahead at
17:58that clash but here's a reminder if you're craving for some more news more in-depth analysis head
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18:07join us every evening at 7 p.m for our flagship program the dugout and also during the post-match
18:15show after India's game at 10 30 p.m so we'll see you there for the moment Nikhil Lal signing off
18:20from Dubai