The tale begins in October 2021, as the nation gathered for another India Vs Pakistan clash in a marque ICC tournament, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The host was India but the tournament was being held in UAE. India had never lost to Pakistan in an ICC tournament before and wasn’t prepared to do so this time either. Although, God had other plans. India was steamrolled by their neighbours and handed a 10-wicket win drubbing. This loss was followed by another one against The Kiwis and India was on the brink of a first-round exit from the tournament. The inevitable happened and India did not make it to the semi-finals. Virat Kohli had already announced his captaincy quitting before the start of the tournament. He was continuously under the pump for underperforming with the bat and the fact that his team also wasn’t doing too well, as well as bearing a lot, to say the least. India did some drastic changes post the early World Cup exit. The primary change that they reflected upon was their approach to the Powerplay overs. They tried to follow the template of being aggressive from the get-go. Rohit Sharma took on the captaincy in all three formats after VK.
Looking ahead to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2022 in Australia, India played tantalising cricket in the T20-bilaterals throughout one year. They showed they took an aggressive route with their openers taking the attack to their opposition. The whole of India and ardent followers of Indian Cricket did see a glimmering hope that the route taken will hold in the coming World Cup. Australia is known to produce hard pitches and on most days it is a batting paradise. Although I am not sure how many Indians did follow the squad release and Team selection, it came as a bit of a surprise when there weren’t any backup openers kept on the side. KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma’s deputy was set to open with Rohit and there wasn’t any other player in the squad who could perform the role of an opener. Rishab Pant was a viable option, but he wouldn’t be given the chance. India dealt with two major blows just before the World Cup: Injuries to Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. As far as Axar Patel has come well in recent times, he will require more time to take his game up to the level of Jadeja. Axar Patel left no impact on the recently concluded tournament. To his defence, there wasn’t much help from the pitches either! Jasprit Bumrah’s absence wasn’t felt as much as it should have, courtesy of Arshdeep Singh. For a long time, India has tried to cultivate a genuine left-arm swing bowler and despite various auditions, no one could hold onto the place. Arshdeep though looks like doing the job this time.
What went staggeringly missing from India’s approach in the games was that aggression. KL Rahul didn’t hit the straps for the first three matches and neither did Rohit Sharma. And that was where India, I feel lost half the plot. If only they had another person who could open the batting, that would have been at a better place, especially in crunch games. For all the lost time that India felt in most of the matches after the first Powerplay, they backed it up with their batting in the slog overs. Let’s imagine if India could go at above 10 runs per over in both the first 6 and last 4 overs, how good does that sound? Well, India did lose out much on the opening powerplay!!
Team selection did at least in my mind did raise some questions: DK was supposedly the finisher although to be fair he didn’t get much chance to prove his selection. Often in T20 games, it’s important to have players who can play in any number if required. VK and SKY were absolute no brainer in their individual slots 3 and 4, but what was happening at the top should have catalysed the management’s brains in bringing about some out-of-the-box thinking. In my opinion, either DK/ Pant whoever played in a particular match could have been given a chance to open. DK has opened in the past in both Test and ODIs. Although the final stage isn’t a place to experiment much especially with opening pairs, some things need to be decided on one’s feet! KL Rahul has also played down the order in ODIs, so nothing to be surprised about! Pant’s talent has been wasted in this entire tournament, even in the matches he played, he should have been utilised more judiciously.
India also played very conservatively in terms of team selection. One of my understandings is because of the active criticism they could have faced if they tinkered with a settled side they played in the entire tournament. If the results would not go their way, the media would have taken a dig and that’s true, but that should not be the reason why the management won’t take bold decisions. A leg spinner is a must in a white ball game. Period. Every team starting from Namibia to Australia had a designated leg spinner playing every match. India had one too, just carrying the bottles around during the Drinks break. If there was one decision that left most Indian fans fuming including me was the absolute one-sided exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal from all the matches in place of Ashwin/Patel. He would have made a lot of difference given the sizes of the grounds in Australia. Ashwin is not getting wily as he is ageing, he is getting more predictable. He is more suitable for the longer formats of the game.
Looking objectively at the positives from this tournament and what lies ahead?
SKY is an absolute game changer and he has proven that at the International level. It is a no-brainer that he will be making inroads in the ODI side as well in the middle order. Virat Kohli getting back to form and is probably the only player from the senior batch who might be considered for the 2024 cup! Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya are definitely in there too and looks like HP will be given the full-time captaincy of the T-20 side. KL Rahul needs to pull up his socks if he wants to make the cut even in the next year’s ODI World Cup. As India gears up for another gruelling season of Cricket, here’s looking forward to some brand new players and fearless cricket from our very own India.
Just not the regular Guy! 