 "T20 World Cup 2024 IND vs SA Final: Left-arm pace troubles Indian openers")
It is no secret that Indian openers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have struggled significantly against left-arm pacers. If the 2021 T20 World Cup game against Pakistan was not enough to illustrate it, the 2024 T20 World Cup reinforced this belief.
Be it Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan, Josua Little of Ireland and Saurabh Netravalkar of the USA at the group stage, or Mitchell Starc, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Reece Topley in the Super 8s and Semi-Final, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have struggled to pick the lengths and the line of the ball shaping away from them or coming from that very angle.
However, when it comes to the T20 World Cup 2024, it is Kohli who has been scalped the most by the left-arm pacers and has found it difficult to score against them.
| Indian Openers v Left-Arm Pace (2024 T20 WC) | |||||
| Batter | BF | RR | Wickets | Ave | DR |
| Rohit Sharma | 61 | 9.73 | 4 | 24.75 | 15.2 |
| Virat Kohli | 18 | 6.66 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
Indian openers weakest against left-arm pace
Among all the teams in this World Cup, India has lost the most 'opener' wickets to the left-arm pacers, followed by the USA and Afghanistan. However, one thing to note would be the fact that Indian openers have also faced the most number of balls against left-handers.
| Openers (by Team) Facing Left Arm Seam (2024 T20 WC) | |||||
| Balls Faced | RR | Wickets | Ave | DR | |
| India | 79 | 9.03 | 6 | 19.83 | 13.1 |
| USA | 68 | 7.76 | 5 | 17.6 | 13.6 |
| Afghanistan | 72 | 7.16 | 4 | 21.5 | 18 |
| Ireland | 27 | 3.11 | 4 | 3.5 | 6.7 |
| New Zealand | 17 | 2.11 | 4 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
Will Jansen utilise this opportunity?
South Africa, who will be playing against India in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 on June 29 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, would look to utilise this opportunity through their strike bowler Marco Jansen. The tall left-arm pacer has already picked up six wickets of the right-handers at an astounding strike rate of 5.06.
| Left-Arm Seamers in the Powerplay (2024 T20 WC) | ||
| Player | RR | Wickets |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | 5.39 | 10 |
| Marco Jansen | 5.06 | 6 |
| Arshdeep Singh | 6.42 | 5 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 6 | 5 |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | 5.46 | 4 |
| Ruben Trumpelmann | 6.73 | 4 |
| Bilal Khan | 7.87 | 4 |