Road to the ICC T20 World Cup for India

With the T20 World Cup less than a year away, both the Indian team and the fans will be discussing about the possible combinations that the Indian team will play at the world cup.

India haven’t been particularly swashbuckling when it comes to this format, nor have they been invincible. They’ve looked like a side still looking for the right balance but with a lot of potential. It’s best for us to break this down into some subcategories to be able to better cover and better understand the strengths and weaknesses of what looks to be a formidable team on it’s better days.

Starting out with the batting of course, I think it’s fair to say that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli along with KL Rahul are definitely going to be in your top 4. I say top 4 because once Dhawan is back, India will have to take a call regarding whether or not they still want to play him as an opener or do they let Rahul continue and slot someone like a Shreyas Iyer in at 4. Regardless, either Kohli or Rohit will be playing the role of anchor while the others bat around them. Now depending on the pitches the team is presented with, they may or may not play Manish Pandey but if it were left to me, I’d definitely slot him in, simply because he can play that finishing role and because he’s hit an absolute purple patch with his batting. Rishabh Pant will probably get an extended run despite his low scores because he still is a fairly good keeper. However though, how long are India willing to test him and if he fails, do they slot in Sanju Samson? I think that’s something only time will tell and in a scenario where Samson gets into the team, I wouldn’t want him to bat lower than 4 or 5 at best because he is that good a player.

Coming to the all-rounders, it’s tough to make any comments on Hardik Pandya’s availability and even if he does become available, will the team want him to straight away play at a big event like the world cup? Apart from this, you do have the likes of Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja in the mix and it really depends on the pitch conditions and performances of the two individuals.

The bowling department looks slightly vulnerable, especially with the batting friendly pitches in Australia. However though, with the inclusion of Shami and probable return of Bumrah, the pace unit looks settled. The only advantage that the spinners will have is that some of the grounds have pretty large dimensions and this might benefit them.

Honestly, nothing more can be made from the current scenario in T20 cricket and it will be interesting to see if the selectors pick up a young player from the domestic circuit for the world cup. India are a side to watch out for, no doubt in that, but do they start favourites? I think not!