India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, but have reached the final only once in six editions since then.
India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, but have reached the final only once in six editions since then.
Form in the Twenty20 World Cup has been an anomaly for India since winning the inaugural title in 2007.
India hosts cricket’s biggest and most lucrative franchise T20 competition, which regularly features the biggest stars of the international game. Domestic stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma,
The national team has some great batsmen and bowlers in both the spin and pace departments, and all-rounders who can make a difference.
Yet India has not won the T20 World title for the first time in South Africa, and has reached the final only once in the subsequent six editions.
Last year too, as hosts, India did not make a surprise exit from the group stage, which included a loss to arch-rivals Pakistan and the final final to New Zealand.
For context, however, the rules for the COVID-19 pandemic meant that India was hosting only the games in name and funding, with all games to be played in the United Arab Emirates or Oman.
So Rohit’s so called Men in Blue are desperate to turn things around in Australia.
group
After unofficial warmups against Australia on Monday and against New Zealand in Brisbane on Wednesday, India’s campaign will begin on 23 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a blockbuster against Pakistan, which is sold out. She will then play Bangladesh and South Africa as well as two first-round qualifiers.
India are adapting in Western Australia, where they faced victories and losses in warm-up games against the West Australian XI.
regrouping
After the embarrassment of last year’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab EmiratesIndia made some changes in the composition of the team and the coaching staff.
Rohit Sharma is now leading the team after Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as captain in 2021. Rahul Dravid has been made the head coach in place of Ravi Shastri.
Under the new captain and coach, India have played 35 T20s at home and away, with 26 wins and eight losses. It holds the record for maximum wins in a calendar year, taking this form in the World Cup.
India misses out on Asia Cup final in UAE But they rallied for 2-1 T20I series wins at home against Australia and South Africa before the top team headed Down Under for the global tournament.
He said, ‘What happens during T20 matches in India, we can live with it. There the limits are small. In Australia, the boundaries are huge and give bowlers a little bit of license to work,” said veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin during the training camp in Perth.
might
Suryakumar Yadav has been one of the T20 stars for India in recent months. He has scored 864 runs in 26 matches at a strike-rate of 180 and is currently ranked number 2 in the ICC men’s T20 batting charts.
He has become the cornerstone of India’s lineup, and his hopes for a second T20 title will depend on Yadav’s stay in form.
India’s batting depth is strong, with Rohit, Kohli and KL Rahul forming a strong top-order, supported by Yadav at No. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik have been assigned the finishers.
Rishabh Pant is both a back-up opener and a wicketkeeper-batsman in the team. Despite stellar performances on Australian soil in the past, Pant is not expected to feature regularly in India’s first-choice XI.
failures
In a major blow to their title aspirations, India will miss key pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja due to prolonged injuries, and Deepak Chahar was ruled out of a back injury earlier this week.
Bowling remains a concern for India in the absence of Jadeja and Bumrah, who are a prolific T20 bowler and have excelled especially in the late overs.
In his absence, young pacers Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh struggled to land a high-pressure job. Even veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar struggled during the recent Asia Cup and at home against Australia.
Jadeja has been replaced by Axar Patel as a left-arm spinner, who will also be sorely missed in the field.
On Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said that Mohammed Shami will replace Bumrah as the 15th player in the team. Shami had already landed in Australia and will join the Indian team in Brisbane next week for two warm-up matches against Australia and New Zealand.
Shami has experience of playing in Australia and was India’s second highest wicket-taker during the ODI World Cup in 2019. The right-arm pacer was supposed to play in the home T20 series against Australia and South Africa last month but was ruled out after that. Tested positive for COVID-19.
He hasn’t played a T20 International in almost a year since taking six wickets in five matches during the last T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
shaft
Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Shami.
Indian schedule in T20 World Cup
India vs Pakistan: 23 October, Sunday at 1:30 PM IST
India vs A2 : October 27, Thursday at 12:30 PM IST
India vs South Africa: October 30, Sunday at 4:30 pm IST
India vs Bangladesh: November 2, Wednesday at 1:30 pm IST
India vs B1: November 6, Sunday at 1:30 PM IST