Not only the Big Boys, but many small battles between Kolkata and Bangalore will be key to victory and defeat.

By Kashinath Bhattacharjee

Twenty20 never ceases to surprise. Just when Anil Kumble was speaking in Kolkata about a special innings that could change the course of a T20 match, Yusuf Pathan was actually demonstrating it at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. But, even equalling Shahid Afridi’s world record in another format of the game i.e. 50-50, was not enough for Jaipur to win the match since Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga bowled two dream overs at the death. Who says bowlers cannot have their impact on a T20 match?

Sourav Gangauly was spot on to request Wasim Akram to be involved with his Kolkata team for the Indian T20 series. Bat will rule the ball, it's elementary in T20. Only when the bowlers will do their job clinically, it will make a difference surely.

That is exactly what the legendary fast bowler has done for Kolkata. His first job was to bring back Ishant Sharma, whom Indian cricket lovers dearly watched during the last Australia tour. Akram had a special session with Ishant at the Eden Gardens before the start of the tournament. In that special ‘hour’ on March 6, Akram tried to teach a lesson or two to the lanky quickie from Delhi.

“No major problem. Yes, he was a bit low in confidence level. My job is to bring back his confidence”, he said then. Post Hyderabad match, it seems Ishant is more 'knowledgable'.

Yet, a fast bowler’s job is to give his team early breaks which the Kolkata bowlers – Ishant, Langevelt – could not provide in the first match. Not only that, the openers also failed to give the team a great start. Sourav admitted that there were areas to be addressed immediately. Opening the innings, with the bat and the ball, seems to be at the top of his priority list now.

Will Manoj Tiwary be given another match as an opener? Or, Sourav will decide to come at the top of the innings? That’s an area of concern. Dale Steyn has an enviable international record while Abhimanyu Mithun is one of the most promising Indian fast bowlers. To counter the duo, it could be a good move from the leader of Kolkata who always leads by example.

Besides the seasoned pros of international cricketers like Sourav, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, the last three from the Bangalore side proving the fact that Kolkata, at the moment, are running short on experiences and there will be so many small battles which can decide the fate of the match.

One of them, surely, is between Srivats Goswami and Wriddhiman Saha. Srivats was in great nick in the limited overs domestic cricket, scoring three hundreds as an opener. The absence of Mark Boucher through an injury might give him an opportunity to prove his worth behind the stumps too, while McCulum’s absence gives Wriddhi the chance to impress the national selectors once more. In fact, that is the battle to decide who’s going to be the numero uno wicketkeeper-batsman of Bengal.

Manish Pandey versus Tiwari -- both are talented middle order batsmen. Manish got more runs in domestic circuit than Manoj. But Manoj’s stupendous efforts won Bengal the match against Karnataka on February 27 in the Vijay Hazare trophy. For Manish, it’s an opportunity to pay back.

On the foreigners’ front, both the teams will miss some of their trusted performers like Chris Gayle, Ross Taylor. So, it is those small battles that are going to decide the fate of the match on Sunday evening at the Eden Gardens.