India vs New Zealand: How sea breeze at the Wankhede will make life tough for team batting second during the Powerplay | Cricket-world-cup News

Batting second at the Wankhede Stadium won’t be a breeze. At least during the first Powerplay or roughly between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm. What will make life tough for batsmen early in the second half of the semifinal between India and New Zealand on Wednesday will be an unseen factor well-known to the locals — sea breeze.The otherwise flat deck has sprung to life under lights during the deadly hour for batsmen. During this period, the shiny new white ball tends to move around a little more. The theory is backed evidence.
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During this World Cup, the scores of the team batting second at the end of the first Powerplay read thus: 67/4, 35/3, 14/6 and 52/4. All of them, barring Australia who were rescued single-handedly Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out against Afghanan, never recovered from the early collapse.
The old-timers at Wankhede talk about ‘respect’ for the unique challenge the hallowed ground poses — the site of India’s most famous win in the last four decades, the 2011 World Cup final.
“There’s a saying in Mumbai,” says Nadeem Memon, a former curator at Wankhede, “that if you are batting in Mumbai, that too in the evening, then wait for the first 10 overs. That’s when the evening breeze is passing . Respect that. It can cost a batsman his wicket.”

To bowl in such conditions will be a lip-smacking prospect for the Bumrahs and Shamis, Boults and Fergusons. At the same time, for the batsmen, it’ll be all about curbing their attacking instincts. Those who attempt to clear the short boundaries with a casual flick or are not watchful enough, can be victims of sharp, unpredictable swing.
The past matches have shown that if a bowler pitches the ball full or at good length, the batsmen find it tough to navigate the swing. That’s how half of the wickets in the first Powerplay of the second innings have fallen here.
High tide to sea breeze
There are few venues in India and around the world where elements play such a decisive role. At Wankhede, they always have.

Earlier, it was the Marine Drive high tide – the one-hour window in the afternoon when the tides in the sea would surge and make the ball do all sorts of weird things that would surprise even the bowlers.
After the stadium underwent renovation ahead of the 2011 World Cup, the wind became an additional factor.
Cricket – ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 – Semi-Final – India Practice – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India – November 14, 2023 India’s Virat Kohli during practice REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
The stadium, located next to the Arabian Sea, is designed in a way that it has giant window panes above the Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Merchant Pavilions, providing an unobstructed path for the sea breeze to blow in.
Old hand Memon explains why fast bowlers will have their tails up in the second innings.
“The pitch is made of red soil, which helps the ball to grip. So, if a seamer can land the ball on the seam, it can generate swing. Bounce is common at this ground (but) the breeze gives an extra weapon to the pacers,” Memon says.
Even when India last chased down a total here, against Australia in March, they were reduced to 39/3 after the first Powerplay, while chasing a modest target of 189. It took a cautious innings KL Rahul, who played out the tricky windy conditions with solid restraint, to guide the team home.
Chatter about the pitch
On the match eve, however, few are talking about the conditions. Instead, all the chatter, all the obsession was predictably restricted to the pitch.
New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson, center, chats with New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra, left, as coach Gary Stead looks on during a training session ahead of the ICC cricket world cup semi-final match against India in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
New Zealand opener Rachin Ravindra broke away from the group that was warming up with a game of football under the shadow of Garware Pavilion and marched towards the pitch. The most-talked-about player of the World Cup stood adjacent to the crease and pored over the 22-yard strip that’s bald on the good-length region.
At the other end, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was standing with his arms folded, staring at the surface, which he was reminded offers pace and bounce.
The night before, India coach Rahul Dravid landed in Mumbai and headed straight to the ground to inspect the pitch. While Rohit Sharma walked out into the middle and straight to the pitch, taking his guard and shadow-practicing a couple of forward blocks.
The India captain, who has grown up playing at Wankhede, knows all about the breeze factor.Most Read
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Memon says the conditions drastically change after 7.30 pm when the wind speed reduces and the humidity kicks in, which brings in the dew factor. “So post 8 pm, things get normal and the pitch becomes flat.”

Maxwell showed that during the last match here. He walked in when the ball was acting wild and allowed himself time to settle in. It was only when the breeze died down and the humidity levels increased, easing the pitch, that he went on to play the greatest innings that was ever played on this ground and arguably in 50-over cricket.
That’s ‘respect’ batsmen need to give to the sea breeze. The respect Memon and old-timers talk about.