Shivam Dube and Varun Chakravarthy lead India to a 17-run win over the Netherlands.
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India Beats Netherlands
Is a perfect record a sign of invincibility, or is it merely masking the cracks before the real pressure begins?
In Ahmedabad, India, didn’t just beat the Netherlands; they survived themselves. While a 17-run victory looks comfortable on a scorecard, the journey to 193/6 was a chaotic ride that required a massive rescue mission.
Shivam Dube, often seen as a specialist power-hitter, stepped into the spotlight to prove he is the Swiss Army knife India has been searching for.
The Lightning Strike
India’s start was anything but clinical. Abhishek Sharma’s nightmare tournament continued with a third straight duck, leaving the top order looking fragile. When Ishan Kishan fell for 18, the silence in the Narendra Modi Stadium was palpable.
- The Rescue Duo: Tilak Varma (31) and Suryakumar Yadav (34) provided the stability, but the scoreboard was crawling.
- The Explosion: Enter Shivam Dube. His 66 off 31 balls was a clinic in brute force, featuring six towering maximums that targeted the “cow corner” with surgical precision.
- The Finisher’s Touch: Hardik Pandya’s brisk 30 ensured the final five overs yielded a staggering 75 runs.
Spin, Stutter, and Stress
The Netherlands didn’t blink. They were actually ahead of India’s run rate at the halfway mark, with Bas de Leede (33) looking like he might pull off the unthinkable.
Then came Varun Chakravarthy. The “mystery” isn’t just in his fingers; it’s in his length. His 3-14 from three overs acted as a vacuum, sucking the life out of the Dutch chase just as it reached a crescendo. He attacked the stumps relentlessly, removing Ackermann and Dutt in successive deliveries to break the visitors’ spirit.
The All-Rounder’s Redemption
Most of the chatter surrounding Dube focuses on his long levers and ability to clear the ropes. However, his bowling in the final over—defending 28 runs despite two dropped catches—showed a level of mental fortitude India desperately needs.
For years, India has struggled to find a reliable sixth bowling option who doesn’t compromise the batting depth.
Dube’s 2-35 wasn’t just about the wickets; it was about giving Suryakumar Yadav the tactical flexibility to rest his primary pacers, like Jasprit Bumrah, when the game was nearly iced. This “security blanket” will be the difference between a semi-final exit and a trophy.
Beware the “Perfect” Start
History is littered with teams that breezed through the group stages only to crumble the moment they faced a “life-or-death” scenario.
Common wisdom says winning builds confidence. The reality? Winning hides flaws. Abhishek Sharma’s form is a ticking time bomb. India’s reliance on middle-order recovery is a risky gamble.
In the Super 8s, against the likes of South Africa and the West Indies, you don’t get 10 overs to “find your rhythm.” India must stop treating the first six overs as an exploration phase and start treating them as a war zone.
The Road Ahead
The group stage was the rehearsal; the Super 8s is the opening night. India carries a 12-match winning streak into a brutal fixture list:
- Feb 22: vs South Africa (Ahmedabad) – A 2024 final rematch.
- Feb 26: vs Zimbabwe (Chennai) – A test against the tournament’s giant-killers.
- March 1: vs West Indies (Kolkata) – The battle for Group 1 supremacy.
The Netherlands is going home, but they left India with plenty of questions to answer before the flight to the next venue.