CHENNAI: In many ways this is the last dance for India under this regime. After the T20 World Cup, their head coach Ravi Shastri will make way and so will his trusted lieutenants, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar (bowling and fielding coaches). More importantly, Virat Kohli will not continue as captain in the format — possibly white-ball cricket altogether — after the edition. Here they are chasing that elusive world title.
Despite the overwhelming success across all formats, teams are judged on their performances in global events. It is that desperation that has made the BCCI bring in MS Dhoni as a mentor for the event. But all of it shouldn’t hide the fact that they are among the very best teams in the format. Since the last edition of the T20 World Cup, they have won 17 of the 25 series they have played. They drew three and prior to the defeat with an under-strength XI against Sri Lanka in July, the previous series defeat was in February 2019.
Yet, in some sense, they have not necessarily played the sort of cricket that one usually associates with the shortest format. They have done it at times, playing aggressive, high-risk cricket, and as they head into the World Cup, they now have a team that can actually play that sort of cricket on a consistent basis. It is a luxury that Kohli has seldom enjoyed as captain in ICC events. At the 2017 Champions Trophy, he carried two aging middle-order batsmen who were past their prime. At the 2019 50-over World Cup, he went without a No 4 and when it mattered the most, it ended up being the hole that ultimately capsized the ship. Although the fault was primarily the team’s, they were reasonable excuses.
At the T20 World Cup, Kohli has more than enough resources to bring home the second title in the format. In terms of preparations, they couldn’t have asked anything better than the IPL. At the top are KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, who offer a perfect mix. At No 3, they have arguably the best in the business to do the anchoring role that will be needed on these tired, slow pitches. At No 4 and 5 they have Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, to break free. For the finisher’s role they have two all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. It’s so stacked they are struggling to squeeze in Ishan Kishan, who would walk into most XIs.
And the bowling unit, which will be dynamic depending on the conditions, has Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin and Rahul Chahar. In a format where teams search for cutting edge and X-factor, add in Varun Chakravarthy, the mystery spinner.
The only headache for India at this stage revolves around Pandya’s fitness. After devising a plan largely around six-bowling options that will also give sufficient batting depth as well as enabling them to be aggressive, they are looking at a Plan B. India expect Pandya to bowl sometime during the tournament, even if only for few overs as he continues to recover from a back injury. If that’s the case, they may not be able to play three spinners: their Plan A. It means they have to look at the likes of Kohli and Rohit to bowl an over or two if one of the regulars have an off-day.
With so much at stake, Kohli and India will hope the headache doesn’t turn into a migraine.