One might be upbeat about India's chances given that they have secured a Men's T20 World Cup semifinal matchup with England at the Adelaide Oval, where they defeated Bangladesh by five runs in a nail-biting rain-delayed game after surviving a Litton Das scare.
However, Sunday's games revealed that the doubleheader's host pitch was a little slower and that the boundaries were also a little narrower. When asked what India would do in a scenario like this before playing England in the semifinal, head coach Rahul Dravid responded that his squad would quickly adapt to the circumstance if the pitch was indeed slow.
"It was played at Adelaide as well, although on a different style of pitch this time. I can't sit here right after a game and make predictions about what will occur there. We'll have a few days; in that time, we'll go look at that wicket and determine what we think it might do. Naturally, if it's slow, we'll play for those circumstances. If we anticipate a different playing style, we must assemble a team to reflect it."
"Once more, we'll have to visit and find out. I observed a few of the games today, and I am aware that the tracks were slow, gripped, and somewhat turned. We could be playing on a completely different surface in Adelaide, and to be honest, the surface we used to play against Bangladesh did not spin "stated Dravid in the press conference following the game.
Dravid continued to emphasise that a batter's strike rate will change depending on how they adjust to the circumstances, referring to it as the sole constant in an unpredictable event. "The strike rate varies depending on the ground and the situation. If you are playing a game where 200 runs must be scored, or on a wicket like this one where, in our opinion, movement was occurring. However, based on the information we learned from the boys inside, we believed that 170-180 was optimal."
"Your strike rate must differ in a game like this. We have participated in games when a score of 150 was the winning margin, and in Adelaide, 160 was a challenging total to defend under those circumstances. You have to consider the circumstances in that situation."
"Since this is the only certainty the World Cup has offered us, you can't really claim that this is the strike rate I want to play on. You must adjust because the situations in many cities have been so different. The opening batsman, powerplays, and strike rates have not had it easy."
"Other than Sydney, I believe, global averages have been quite low. You must once more adjust. You might need to change your style of play when you travel to Sydney. Adelaide might or might not be different. For me, versatility is the key in this style."
India was eliminated from contention to advance to the UAE semifinals almost a year ago. However, since Dravid assumed the position of head coach, India has been on the upswing and now leads Group 2 going into the semifinals. He admitted that, in a tournament where outcomes have frequently been decided by razor-thin margins, reaching the last four stage was satisfying.
It's a difficult structure and competition when you have six teams. As we've seen with some of the other teams, I believe one or two results could have gone our way as well. We could have won some games.
"Getting through this format and into the top four is incredibly difficult. Although it's fantastic and we're delighted about it, we are aware that ideally we still have a few more good days ahead of us."
With the unknowns this format entails and the diverse difficulties presented by teams in Group 2, Dravid rejected the notion of giving players any additional instructions for beating Zimbabwe in order to claim the top spot.
"Most of these guys are tremendously motivated at this level. They don't require any additional instructions from you. We maintain our procedures. We continue to follow our plan. For this game, we didn't do anything (different)."
"No matter who we faced in this tournament—South Africa, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, or the Netherlands—our procedures and methods for conducting practise sessions have always been the same. Regardless of the opponent, we haven't changed anything at all, and I don't anticipate that will change heading into the semifinals either."