Indian Cricket Team is currently high on confidence after their back-to-back T20I Series victories against Australia and South Africa. The Men in Blue have rediscovered their mojo and once again are looking a force to reckon with. Since the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the team has lost only one tournament which was Asia Cup 2022.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami.
Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur
Strengths
Undoubtedly, India’s prowess is their batting as they can easily post a formidable total on board. The resurgence of Virat Kohli at the top of the order has meant that a team is a powerful unit. Kohli is someone who can provide stability in the middle overs phase and can play long and effective innings. Kohli was a part of the 2016 & 2020 T20I Series victories in Australia and his experience would be invaluable.
Weaknesses
The likes of Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh would be targeted by the opposition. India is making a mess during the death overs as leaking more than 50 runs ruins all the hard work. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s form is a concern as he is getting predictable as his variations aren’t that effective.
X factor
Suryakumar Yadav, the stylish right-handed batter has been in rollicking form. His innovative shots have meant that India is no more reliant on Virat Kohli. The peculiarity of Suryakumar is that he doesn’t fear anyone which makes him a stand-out batter. The way he dismantled Aussies and Proteas augurs that he could be the next big thing in T20 World Cup 2022.
Chances
India’s biggest challenge would be against Pakistan. The billion people would be aware of how Pakistan thumped India last year. India needs to start well as a couple of losses can ruin all the hard work of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. It would be interesting to see whether Shami gets a chance in the playing 11 as the pacer has not played a single T20I since the disastrous T20 World Cup 2021.
India should not play musical chairs with their line-up as chopping and changing won’t work at the 11th hour. India should opt for Ashwin as their prime spinner rather than Axar as Ashwin knows how to fox the batters. India looks most likely to make Semi-Finals as this time the team has been well prepared.
Also Read: Scotland Bury West Indies