What is the number of players on a cricket team? The literal response is, without a doubt, 11. However, some teams give the idea that they have fewer than eleven players, and some say that they have more than eleven. South Africa appeared to have more than eleven, whereas India appeared to have fewer than eleven at St. George’s Park. India fielded six batsmen, plus a wicketkeeper, an all-rounder, and four specialist bowlers, making up the traditional Test lineup. Not one of the four bowlers could bat, and not one of the six batsmen could bowl. They appeared to be reluctant to trespass into one another’s well-delineated areas, much like courteous neighbors. Scroll down to read the list of batsmen who can’t bowl and bowlers who can’t bat.
List Of Batsmen Who Can’t Bowl And Bowlers Who Can’t Bat
In stark contrast, South Africa had six bowlers and nine batsmen in place of the T20 era’s spirit. However, one could counter that other teams use various strategies. Furthermore, a team’s composition depends on the caliber and accessibility of its members. But it matters while playing against major opponents and in huge games. Ultimately, the difference between South Africa winning the second Twenty20 match and India losing was bowling and batting depth.
Suryakumar Yadav was left with little choice but to continue using the same bowlers in the hopes that someone would work a bit of magic after Reeza Hendricks and company pillaged India’s bowlers. None did, and he was left cursing the lack of a sixth bowler who could break partnerships on a part-time basis.
Every squad has one or more of them. Aiden Markram is from South Africa; Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh are from Australia; Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, and Daryll Mitchell are from New Zealand; Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim are from Pakistan; Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook are from England.
In a world where multitaskers are becoming rare, India has remained a specialist. It’s possible that they have inadequate alternatives or it’s just their philosophy, but either way, India is moving backward in the fastest-growing format.
And even more devastating is the incompetence of India’s lower-order players, starting at No. 8. From No. 8 to No. 11, not one of them can strike a boundary. Some of them, like Kuldeep Yadav, might last in longer forms, but stickability in the tiniest format is a liability. The last four hitters have amassed 34 fours and four sixes in 113 innings over their T20 careers (not only T20Is).
Doctors would advise you that the entire body would become unbalanced if the legs were trembling. The middle order was also restrained by the lower level’s brittleness. A case study: India was 142 for 4 in 15.2 overs when Jitesh Sharma left the game.
An insane conservatism had gripped Rinku and Jadeja, as they managed just 24 runs in the next 20 balls when Rinku smeared Aiden Markram for consecutive sixes off the final two balls of the 19th over.
By today’s T20 yardsticks, Jadeja’s struggles in determining the boundaries of spinners were somewhat to blame for the crawl. In the 88 balls he has faced since 2022, he has only hit them for two sixes and four fours, managing a strike rate of just 87 against them. He managed just nine runs off of eight on Tuesday. Rinku avoided his aggressiveness as well. India suffered throughout this time, just as they had in the past.
In their previous series, even the West Indies revealed this vulnerability of India. during the initial T20. At one point, India was coasting along, needing just 37 runs from five overs while still holding six wickets. However, Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya left in the span of three balls. The score was still reachable, but India managed to lose by four wickets. The West Indies demonstrated how to win the following game when their top batsmen, Akeal Hosein, and Alzarri Joseph, combined to score 26 runs off just 17 balls for the ninth wicket, leading them home.
Following the match, Captain Hardik Pandya would concede: “If we need our Nos. 8, 9, and 10 to contribute five to ten runs, we need to figure out how to strengthen them as well.”
Before the ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma would also use Pakistan’s victory over Afghanistan and the match against the West Indies as examples of India’s weaknesses in the batting department. “We are more concerned about our concerns, starting at number eight,” Rohit would tell this newspaper.
After over six months, India has moved from the West Indies to South Africa. At the same area of concern, with no obvious or covert answer. Their profiles have not changed; only their names have. Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav are constantly coming and going from the No. 8 position. Neither was able to make a major hit. Neither could Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, or Arshdeep Singh. Even if Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah were to take their place, the scene would still not drastically alter.
The two frontline bowlers for India in the cross-format are more effective in longer formats than in T20s. Bumrah scores 85 runs for every 100 balls, whereas Shami scores a slightly higher 90. They both have averages lower than 10.
None of the fringe seamers, such as Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna, are really useful as batters.
Batsmen who are unable to strike boundaries down the order are an unavoidable burden to the team in this period of never-ending dynamics and paradigm adjustments—an unending cycle of role changes. The spirit of the era has been grabbed by other teams. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc were handed to Australia at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively. Often, Adam Zampa is ranked No 10. They had the luxury of Ben Dwarshuis, who had a strike rate of 128 and an average of 15 at No. 8, even when all the regulars were on rest.
Naseem Shan and Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan’s seam wunderkinder, were both able to show off their strength. Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson of New Zealand could also do so. Chris Woakes was ranked eight in the latest England order, while Rehan Ahmed (who in this format knocks a boundary every seventh ball) was ranked nine.
In the most recent version, Jason Holder was nine years old and Andre Russell was eight. They would not typically be called upon for runs. While it wouldn’t be expected of any of them to get the quickest 50 in-game history, even a few rapid 15-20 runs would be quite significant. However, there is implicit confidence that power is present at the top of the hierarchy.
Towards the end of India’s innings, this idea restrained Rinku and Jadeja. Therefore, India would need to come up with ways to make the team appear like more than just a bunch of elevens before the T20 World Cup arrives.
