The third T20I between India and West Indies was an absolute treat to watch, especially for Indian fans and batting lovers. There was great entertainment value and some HUGE hits to the fence. Putting it more simply, it was a joy to watch!

What was different in this encounter however, was that India managed to win a game despite batting first in Indian conditions. I use the word “despite” because defending totals in India, especially at a ground like the Wankhede is well, almost close to impossible. The short boundaries and dew later in the evening almost completely rules out the spinners. This makes it necessary for the team batting first to score in excess of 180 to have any chance of defending a total.

India did just that, they scored a mammoth 243 to send the Windies’ hopes crashing down. It was a very unusual innings for the Indians. It was pretty obvious that something special would be required to give the West Indians a run for their money. Someone in the Indian dressing room realized that to beat the Windies in this format, you’d have to bat like them; and so they did!

Right from the get go, the Indians seemed to want to deal in boundaries as often as possible, but at the same time, ensured steady strike rotation. Even Rohit Sharma, who usually takes a few deliveries to get set, opened his account with a boundary within the first couple of deliveries and you could see that the openers had come out with a simple game plan: SMASH the ball!

KL Rahul batted with great composure for his 91 and although he did mistime a few, managed to hold the innings together along with Kohli and Rohit. What really raised eyebrows was Kohli’s 29 ball 70. It was an absolute delight to watch and moreover, to think that Virat could start an innings in 6th gear, it was something not many would’ve expected of him; not even himself probably!

Now once the runs were on the board, the bowling came good with the confidence of having a large total. Both Shami and Kuldeep were making a comeback after a long time and it was good to see both of them chipping in with a couple of wickets. Once Pollard was gone, the match was pretty much over.

I thoroughly enjoyed how India went about their batting in this particular match because we all know the class they have in their batting line up. It was always about whether or not they could be really aggressive when they had to. With this innings, it is safe to say that there was a small revolution in India’s T20 batting style and that on a given day, these batsman can amass some really, really large totals if they set their minds to it. Also, to see them come out and bat like this will further boost the bowlers’ confidence and slowly but surely, this team is showing that they might be a force to reckon with, even in this form of the game!

There’s been so much talk around that first T20I between India and the West Indies and rightly so! It should have just been another normal T20I match except that there was something different, something we’ve seen so often in the past, yet something we haven’t particularly experienced in the last year or so.

It was Virat Kohli’s masterful pacing of an innings and clinical strokeplay to dish out yet another victory for the Indian juggernaut. Some may ask, what’s new in that? Doesn’t he always do it? Well, don’t worry, I’ll walk you through each and every detail of it!

Let’s first go back to 2017, India taking on the Windies in a T20I, Virat Kohli dismissed for 30 odd by Kesrick Williams. Now for those following the CPL(Carribean Premier League), Williams has a particular celebration after he gets a wicket. He brings out an imaginary notebook wherein he writes the batsman’s name he dismissed. He made sure that Kohli experienced this celebration too. Now obviously, Kohli wasn’t going to let that go, the fighter in Kohli would remember that. With that being said, let’s move further into this article and see how Kohli got back at Williams.

Come 2019, first T20I at Hyderabad, the Windies post a massive 207 and India haven’t started off all that well with Rohit Sharma being dismissed early. In walks Kohli, with the usual aggression and determination to carry India to yet another victory. Let’s dive into his innings and why it was special.

We know how much Kohli likes to impose himself on the game and the opposition, but unlike the other days, he really struggled to get going with just 3 runs of his first 9 balls. In fact, a good chunk of the deliveries he faced, he tried hitting them a lot harder than he probably should have and really seemed to be struggling with his timing. It was pretty easy to make out his frustration as cuss words were being hurled left and right. Forget the opposition, even the umpires weren’t spared! There were a few heated exchanges between Kohli and Williams and more than once, the umpires had to step in and intervene.

In all the years I have seen Kohli bat, very rarely have I seen him struggle as much to time a cricket ball and still manage to stay at the crease. The man always known for his elegance and class, was playing ugly heaves through mid-wicket for singles. This went on for about 30 deliveries and luckily for India, Rahul on the other end was still batting well and so Kohli still had time to sort himself out.

Kohli eventually got a couple of boundaries and moved on to 50 off just 35 deliveries, despite struggling so much. What followed was an absolute delight to watch. Jason Holder was bowling to Kohli and pitched one up, outside off and Kohli stood firm and almost effortlessly, deposited the ball into the stands with an extension of his arms, right behind the bowler, over the long off boundary. There was something about that shot that made every avid cricket watcher believe that the master had regained his briefly lost touch. This was followed by a cut over point and an absolutely dismissive flick that flew to the mid-wicket boundary and then you knew, you just knew, that the King of all chases had returned. When he hit some of those boundaries against Kesrick Williams, Kohli made sure to bring out that notebook and flip a few pages and put his signature in there, a call back to 2017. All Kesrick Williams could do was smile sheepishly for he had been given a taste of his own medicine! With every boundary Kohli hit, he pumped his fists and punched the air and shouted a few words that are best left unmentioned. Let’s just say, the Delhi inside him was expressing itself and the long lost angry boy was still there in him, somewhere still.

Towards the end of the knock, the thoughts of ‘Oh will India chase this down!?’ had turned into statements of ‘How fast will India chase this down!’. The knock bought back memories of so many of Kohli’s innings in run chases and the flamboyance and ease with which he demolished bowling attacks. It was reminiscent of the 133* he scored against Sri Lanka in Australia in the CB Series, under similar conditions and for the Kohli fan boy in me, it was absolutely awe inspiring and a reminder of why so many youngsters of this generation play the game in the first place. Dare I say, this might be the greatest T20I knock of all time!

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!

The Indian cricket team have had a great world cup so far barring the defeat against England. Virat Kohli has led from the front with 5 consecutive fifties and has captained the side with zest.

For a normal cricketer, achieving 5 consecutive scores of fifty plus is nothing less than super human. However though, knowing Virat Kohli, one wonders what’s going wrong? Every time Kohli goes past fifty, he usually converts it into a hundred.

So far in this world cup though, he has been unable to convert his half centuries. It’s safe to say that in the first couple of innings, he came in pretty late and had to accelerate, hence him getting out in the ways he did was totally acceptable. In the last couple of games though, there’s a certain trend to his dismissals. We all know how much Kohli likes to impose himself on the game and how he has that hunger to keep scoring runs. In these last two innings though, Kohli has gotten out after a period wherein he is unable to retain strike. For instance, in the England match, he played only 10 of the last 30 deliveries in the Rohit-Kohli partnership.

The only thing that comes to mind is a slight drop in concentration or an urge to score quicker. Apart from this, Kohli has been in really good touch but he too would be looking to convert his fifties into hundreds as he’s done pretty much all his career.

On a side note, there could also be a case of Kohli getting slightly restless due to lack of strike rotation or dot balls, not only at his end, but also on his partner’s end. Whatever it may be, the team will be hoping Kohli continues batting with the same intent and that he gets a big one soon!

(Image courtesy:NDTV Sports)