Rohit's bold play, wickets in middle overs, pacers' form & role clarity

New Delhi: With apologies to the pacers wreaking havoc, spinners baring their fangs, and batters bossing around, it would be fair to say that the Indian juggernaut in this World Cup is not just about explosive performances on the field.

The great Wasim Akram thinks it would take an "extraordinary effort" to halt India's charge but reminded about their ICC title drought every step of the way, skipper Rohit Sharma and his ambitious colleagues very well know that their job is only half done.

India became the first team to reach the World Cup semifinals with a 302-run rout of Sri Lanka on Thursday night, their seventh win on the trot.

They are in the middle of a dream run but Rohit and his men will eventually be judged on their performances in the knock-out stages, their achilles heel over the past decade.

Rohit redefines top-order approach

Often criticised for their conservative approach in the powerplay, India have redefined their top-order approach with skipper Rohit Sharma being primarily responsible for the team's bold play in the first 10 overs.

Rohit has batted at a strike rate of 119.64, which is the highest among the top-run getters in the tournament. He is among the topfive in that list, aggregating 402 runs at an average of 57.42.

As promised before the World Cup, Rohit will continue to take risks in the coming matches but trust him to alter his uber-expressive approach when the situation demands, like it did against England on a twopaced wicket in Lucknow.

Wickets in middle overs

India also needed to improve their wicket-taking ability in all phases of the games, especially in the middle overs.

The return of Jasprit Bumrah and the refined version of Kuldeep Yadav has helped India plug that gap.

Intimidating pace attack

Bumrah has added an outswinger to his already lethal armoury since his comeback from injury, Mohammed Shami is making the batters hop, skip and jump with is sensational seam bowling and when the surface offers some help like it did at the Wankhede last night, Mohammed Siraj also comes into his own, making India's pace attack the envy of rival teams.

Role clarity

The individual roles have been made crystal clear to the players and that is clearly evident in the way India are going about their business.

Rohit has taken the onus on himself to take calculated risks in the powerplay, Kohli is taking the innings deep, Shreyas Iyer is tasked with taking on the spinners in the middle overs before Suryakumar Yadav goes ballistic in the death overs.

Bouncing back from adverse situations

The Indian teams of the past might have panicked after losing their first three wickets for two runs but the current lot did not in its very first game of the tournament against Australia.

The 164-run stand between Kohli and K L Rahul allowed India to pace the tricky run chase perfectly after a horror beginning, to ensure a comfortable victory. (PTI)