Illogical View 06

ICC has the worst highlights package. They should call it "boundaries and wickets package", for that is what it is. These abbreviated clips fail to capture the nuance and flow of the game. Without seeing the crucial middle overs, no one can understand and evaluate the true importance of an innings or a spell. It's no wonder most people mistakenly call ODIs an extension of T20s.

Why did South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and India make the semis while others couldn’t?

It all boils down to understanding the conditions to build a solid strategy.

For this champions trophy,

Attack with the openers in powerplay. Middle-order batters to play according to the situation. Build a base and keep wickets in hand to create a launchpad for the lower order.

In bowling, utilize fast bowling as long as possible before creating a spin chokehold. Restrict strike rotation to create pressure and take wickets in the middle overs to prevent acceleration at the death.

Jarrod Kimber recently posted a video where he describes modern batting: you can't restrict modern batters from scoring fast at the death if they have the right base. The only way to restrict teams from scoring 80-100 runs at the death is through wickets in the middle overs.

It's a tussle between batters trying to preserve wickets while maintaining strike rotation with occasional boundaries, whereas bowlers aim to create dot ball pressure to force false shots.

Whoever executes this strategy perfectly ultimately wins the tournament unless one team takes their strategy one step forward with the element of surprise.

The Element of Surprise

The element of surprise remains a team's biggest asset in knockouts. Take for instance Head's ultra-attacking approach against India in the WC23 finals. When all teams follow similar strategies, changing tactics can destroy opposition plans and put them on the back foot.

Examples include starting with spinners and using fast bowlers in the middle overs if the strategy demands it. Australia can utilize Maxwell in the powerplays against Rohit Sharma. India could very well continue with a 4-spin bowling attack against Australia, even though it's unprecedented.

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