If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/
Q: In the 20-game version, past reputations don’t really matter. Given that, your sentiments as India plays South Africa in the Final tomorrow?
A: Why in T-20 ? It’s true for most aspects of our life- past has no Future. Extrapolation of past success to future is no longer a game even. In case of T-20, a team has to be in the present always. The record of past performance is no guarantee for its continuance. Eg: look at Virat Kohli and Jadeja or Shivam Dube for that matter. Nothing is working for them. At the same time, Hardik Patel’s performance has dramatically improved when one compares it with his IPL performance.
May be Rohit & Co need to revisit their fetish for continuing with the same team. Some good players are sitting on the bench. I doubt in the final match , the Indian team would take the risk of experimenting with the team structure.
Sentiment-wise I would like India to win the Cup which has eluded India for 13 years . South Africa has a good team. They are unbeaten also. The pitch seems to be the real hero and bowlers have a field day. Each pitch is unpredictable and on Final day, how one adjusts to the new pitch and respond would be critical. The India captain is playing an exemplary role. The ability of the Indian team members to adjust the new operating ecosystem has yielded dividend. There is no choking. New heroes have come like Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh. Rohit, SKY and Hardik have been generally consistent and delivered at the crunch. Ultimately, the best team would win at the end of the day.