A seemingly invincible India will be eager to sharpen their game against spin and give a run to second-line players ahead of the semifinal when they take on New Zealand in their last group match of the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday. A win in their last league match will help India top the Group A. But that position of pride is of little value because they are set to face either Australia or most likely South Africa in the last four, and both of them have handy spin units at their disposal.
Indian batters have not been really comfortable against spin despite two victories thus far in the event, and New Zealand, who are also qualified for the semifinals, could offer them a tough challenge.
The star Indian batters were focusing more on playing out Bangladesh spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz (0/37) and Rishad Hossain (2/38) without taking risks, and they followed the same approach against Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed (1/28).
But they will come up against more wily customers in Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell on Sunday, and it could be their harshest test against spin yet in this event.
Both the Kiwi spinners are in fine fettle here, and could be even more effective on the worn out surface at Dubai.
Indian batters have been clever enough to milk spinners for singles and twos, while reserving the big shots against pacers when the ball came much more quickly and predictably at them.
But they will face 20 overs from Santner and Bracewell while a few more of Glenn Phillips' part-time off-spin.
India do not have very fond memories of facing Santner and Phillips in a Test series at home late last year, which they lost 0-3, and now they have Bracewell too to tackle.
The off-spinner has been quite parsimonious so far, conceding just 3.2 runs per over across two matches.
So, the effectiveness of Shubman Gill, India's standout batter in ODIs of late, batting icon Virat Kohli, who made a morale-boosting 100 against Pakistan, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul against them will have a telling impact on the outcome of the game.
And even beyond this match, considering the slowing-down nature of the decks at the DICS.
Spinners to the fore
But there is a pleasing side to spinners' dominance here.
The selection of five spinners — Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar — was not viewed with any conviction ahead of the marquee event because of the overwhelming success pacers had at this venue in the past.
But what India encountered at Dubai are tired pitches after the venue hosted the ILT20 recently, vindicating the selection call to a large extent.
The three tweakers India employed so far — Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep — have bowled as per the conditions, making it tough for their opponents.
They have not produced any magical spells but were able to keep the opposition batters in check in the middle overs, as none of them have given in excess of five runs per over in this event.
The match against Pakistan stands as a prime example for this. Despite constructing a 100-plus stand Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel were never able to accelerate between the 11th and 34th over — a phase when Indian spinners applied the brakes remarkably well.
In fact, the Pakistan batters could not find a boundary for nine overs on the trot.
But they might just face a different scenario against New Zealand as batters such as Kane Williamson, Will Young, Tom Latham, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra etc are excellent against spin.
If the Indian spinners can contain them, then it will do a world of good to their already high confidence.
Chance for fringe players?
While India would want to sustain the momentum, they will think of giving skipper Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami some more time to hit the peak ahead of the semifinals.
Rohit had experienced some discomfort during the match against Pakistan and stayed away from the field for some 20 minutes before returning. He batted too without any obvious struggle.
But with no tournament riders hanging on this match, the management will be tempted to give Rohit a break. If that is the case, Rishabh Pant may get his first match here.
There will also be discussion on resting Mohammed Shami because he had struggled with his calf during the match against Pakistan, and the think tank might just give him an extended recovery break ahead of the semis on March 4.
Hence, Arshdeep Singh could come in for Shami, and the in-form Chakravarthy might replace Kuldeep as he is also coming off an injury lay-off.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy.
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