Time for Indian openers to get into the groove

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It’s the first big match for India in the preliminary group phase and the contest against England should be a good one.

Both the teams have played and won against Afghanistan in their opening tie and one shouldn’t try to draw any conclusion by looking at the margin of victory of both the sides.

India won by a smaller margin comparatively and England looked a smart unit but come Sunday and it may well be a different ball game.

India has dominated England mostly in the shorter version of the game and Dhoni and his boys will be keen to maintain their supremacy over Broad and his boys.

England has lot of young faces in the side. No Cook, Pietersen, Bopara and the holders have brought in lot of fresh legs to defend the title.

In Broad they have a young captain, for a format in which they say that you need to be two steps ahead always.

It will be interesting to find out how they fair against the Indian attack, which should be having a fair bit of spin in their line-up. The pitches in Sri Lanka have undergone a lot of change since the days of Murali.

They have fair bit of bounce and carry which the seamers from all teams are enjoying. Pitches with bounce and carry also excite the spinners and I would love to see Ashwin and Harbhajan being jointly thrown at the English batters, backed by Yuvraj, who as a left-hand spinner can be of some problem against the Englishmen.

The Indian openers need to get in to groove for the tournament. Sehwag was shaping up well against Pakistan but didn’t carry on long. Gautam has also looked rusty.

But I am sure that they are good players and form for them might just be round the corner. Maybe, even in a T-20 game they will need to give some more time to themselves at the crease.

If India gets off to a good start then with Virat, Raina, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit in the dug-out Indian batting should be a real worry for the opponents.

But it is Indian bowling and the balance of the side which needs more discussion. I think India has the potential to go in with five bowlers, especially with Irfan Pathan available.

He has been in form with the ball and his batting ability surely lends strength to the lower order. Dhoni can really have a look at this. One more thing, India will need to have some genuine pace in that attack.