CHENNAI: It's time to state the obvious. The Indian team are the favourites to retain the T20 World Cup. In the months leading up to the bash, they looked proper challengers to at least reach the final. Now, after their clinical, systemic dissection of New Zealand in India in varied conditions over the last week, the final should be their minimal ambition.
Over the last seven days, they have again bared their teeth in a show of remarkable strength. Sure, teams have constantly used T20 cricket to display naked aggression but the Black Caps have had no answers to the kind of brute hitting India have subjected them to. Abhishek Sharma is doing with the bat what Jasprit Bumrah has done with the ball for over a decade. Break games open early doors. His assault and understanding of the field restrictions — coupled with Ishan Kishan's devil may care attitude at No. 3 — has meant this Indian batting unit is always on turbo-charge. Granted, there may be days when such a hedonistic, care-free batting will see them be 3/10 after one over but over the long run, this is the way to play the game. They used to suffer when an earlier management saw T20Is as shortened ODIs. This one sees T20Is as a separate sport in itself.
When they began the white-ball season Down Under, there were quiet whispers over Suryakumar Yadav. The first Indian unicorn in this format had forgotten the grammar of the sport he had at least co-authored. 7 n.o, 47 n.o, 0, 5, 12, 1, 39 n.o, 1, 24, 20, 12, 5, 12 and 5 were his returns since the beginning of the Asia Cup last September.
India had a real problem in their hands. Would they jettison the captain so close to the World Cup? Considering there were some watercooler talk concerning his wrists, it wasn't an outlandish suggestion. And, then, relief. Freedom. First, it came in fits and starts. Then, the floodgates opened. Scores of 32 (off 22), 82 n.o (off 37) and 57 n.o (off 26) has given the team management and the leadership group belief that their No. 4 is back and firing adding further ballast to a batting group already high on a lot of minerals.
What changed for the captain? Like most batters, some time in the middle, some luck and a batter at the other end going at 100 miles per hour. When the skipper walked in at 2/6 in the 2mnd over when chasing 209 in the second T20I, he was under the pump. But he had time, a target in front of him. That was what he wanted to buy himself some time. He had some lucky escapes in the first over. One rising delivery didn't go to a fielder, another moving delivery missed the outside edge. At the other end, Kishan not only took strike but dealt in boundaries.
That partnership, till the end of the powerplay was worth 69 in 4.5 overs but Yadav's contribution was 8. It's a cliche but it's a cliche for a reason; whenever batters go through a slump, one of the first diagnosis is 'needs to spend more time in the middle'. Stretching back to the beginning of 2025, he had faced 15 balls or more in an innings only twice in 19 innings before the start of this series. So, it was a question of giving himself time. Once he had sussed out the pitch and the conditions, he opened his scoring avenues as he began accessing areas behind square on the leg-side. Those elastic wrists came into play. One particular Zak Foulkes over went for 4, 4, wide, 4, 4, 6, 2 with the majority runs coming in the V between third man and long leg.
It was more of the same a few days later in Guwahati. This was another Yadav of old knock. Is he truly back? You need more than a few knocks to show that but these were giant steps after a meagre last 12 months. Continue like this in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram and India may well book a few hotel rooms in Ahmedabad from March 6 to 9.
