In the twilight of Bullring, two Indian batsmen Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma of contrasting styles but a singular devotion to stack as many sixes and fours as possible completed their hundreds. First came Sanju Samson’s milestone against South Africa in 4th T20I, when he bunted a ball through the off-side and celebrated the moment with a flex of his right bicep.
Three balls later, Tilak Varma rang his century with a scurried double. His celebrations were more articulate — he sprinted halfway down the ground, struck something of a statue of liberty pose, let out a guttural roar and blew kisses to the dressing room especially to his skipper Suryakumar Yadav thanking him again and again to give his No 3 position a go. But what audience witnessed in this six hitting savages were the changing face of Indian T20I cricket in 2024 from being a six -shy nation to six-hitting savvy batting unit.
Hardly for us the Indian fans across the globe who witnessed the journey from fiery Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in South Africa back in 20o7 to this maniac Indian batting six hitting machines in form of the Indian team who within less than 2 months have smashed 2 of the highest totals 297 (*against Bangladesh) and 283 (*against South Africa) against the test playing nations of highest order.
The fallout in 2022 T20 World Cup and change in the mindset of Indian cricket thereafter with Rahul Dravid being the pioneer of change
The 2022 T20 World Cup was one of the biggest seismic events in Indian cricket in the last 15 years. Not only were India out of yet another semifinal, but the manner of their defeat indicated that India needed to drastically adopt a more meticulous approach while planning for big matches. The fact that India hadn’t won a World Cup or Champions Trophy in the last decade compounded the imminence of those changes.
Rahul Dravid and his support staff wanted to cover every base tactically. The team already had Hari Prasad Mohan, a data analyst with Sports Mechanics, working with them. However, to leave no stone unturned, before the 2022 T20 World Cup itself, Dravid had gotten in touch with someone you’d not generally associate with a cricket team.
Cosmologist Himanish Ganjoo is a well-known figure on cricket Twitter (now X) for his cutting-edge data science work on the game. As it turned out, data analysis was at the forefront of the team’s transformation after the tournament defeat.
After going through his work, Rahul Dravid enlisted him to help the team with two World Cups in the next two years. Now that Ganjoo’s stint is over with a victorious culmination, he had an exclusive chat with Cricket.com. He discussed his work for the team, how it helped them, and the culture of data analysis the team inculcated through it, which eventually contributed to the Indian team finally getting their hands on a T20 World Cup trophy after 17 years in 2024.
IPL 2024 becomes breeding ground for power hitters and the newly appointed coach Gautam Gambhir fueled the intensified approach in T20I team
Soon after India won the inaugural T20 World Cup the Indian Premier league born in the year 2008 , from the very first season it gained huge popularity as even overseas players were the part of the teams, the first match between RCB and KKR ,where Brendon McCullum scored a majestic century acted as a testimony to IPLs popularity…. As the years passed up several young Indian players got a chance to represent themselves and play in the front of professional international players .. this strengthen and shaped the Indian cricket overall ….
Jasprit Bumrah , Hardik Pandya , Yashaswi Jaiswal , Arshdeep Singh , Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and several other players are the because of IPL only
Even if you can remember about the 2021 Sri Lanka series, we gave almost 10+ debuts across the formats … this clearly justifies that IPL has definitely helped Indian cricket to flourish and grow ..
A major point to be included is that , IPL has helped several players to earn a livelihood like Sandeep Sharma who possess a good talent but only played 2 T20I’s for India … others players like Mohit Sharma , Dinesh Karthik , Wriddhiman Saha , who regularly not played international cricket but got a chance to earn a livelihood because of IPL
Even several players who were dropped from the Indian team got a chance to be the part of the team once again … the biggest example is Dinesh Karthik who played the 2022 T20 World Cup because of his great performance in the 2022 IPL
In nutshell , I would say that IPL has played a major role in shaping and mould ing the Indian cricket and would peri the same role in the upcoming times as well….
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav has hailed Tilak Varma for “walking the talk,” as the youngster unlocked his potential as India’s new No. 3 batter with sensational back-to-back centuries that powered their 3-1 T20 International series triumph in South Africa. Various batters have been tried out in recent times for the crucial position once owned by Virat Kohli, with the team think-tank even experimenting with Rishabh Pant during the T20 World Cup, albeit with little success.
Since then, players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have all had stints at No. 3 before skipper Suryakumar Yadav took over the role. However, after being entrusted with the crucial No. 3 spot in the last two T20Is of the series, the 22-year-old Varma has firmly grabbed the position with both hands.
The victory in South Africa underlined India’s new-found dominance in T20I cricket, even after the retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja and especially without many of their regulars like Yashaswi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.
From the new captain’s attitude to the team’s batting style, Gautam Gambhir’s influence is palpable on his debut as India coach. The three defining characteristics of Gambhir as a mentor and coach is to be smart, bold, and selfless. His debut series as India coach has so far shown ample evidence of these traits, showing the style of cricket we can expect from the Indian T20 team as it enters a new era.
There’s no place for an anchor in modern T20 cricket. India’s new openers, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill—replacing the stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli—made that clear in the very first T20 game, of Gambhir’s three-year stint as coach in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, on 27 July. They had strike rates of 190 and 212, respectively. For Jaiswal, it’s a familiar mode, but Gill wasn’t holding back either.
The appointment of Suryakumar Yadav as captain took many by surprise, because Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain in the T20 World Cup. But it seems to have been a good call, because the team has so far mirrored Suryakumar Yadav’s exuberance and fearlessness.
Suryakumar Yadav’s promise as a T20 captain for India was evident from early on, when he led the team in limited overs cricket, in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. He routed Australia 4-1 right after the 2023 ODI World Cup. He then levelled a T20 series in South Africa. Now, as first-choice captain, in partnership with Gambhir who shares a similar attitude, Yadav has a chance to reach new heights.
The appointment of the new T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav was Gautam Gambhir’s biggest move after being named the coach. Along with the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, he minced no words in saying that a player could not be captain if his fitness allowed him to appear in only half the games. So Pandya was out from the captaincy race. The Indian team under Gautam Gambhir won a T20I series against Bangladesh followed by bludgeoning of Bangladesh with a highest score of 297 in 3 match T20I series which founded India’s new rising star Sanju Samson.
Sanju Samson finally coming of age in T20 Cricket
There was never doubting Sanju Samson’s talent – he always possessed it in abundance – but there were not enough numbers to show for it. He made his international debut in 2015 but inconsistent results meant that he could never cement a permanent place for India in white-ball cricket. There were some great performances in the IPL but there were some poor ones for India. It was almost as if he was not able to transcend that gap between elite franchise cricket and internationals. But something has changed this season.
Sanju Samson is finally showcasing his true prowess with the bat and making his mark in T20 cricket. He had a brilliant IPL and is amongst India’s highest impact batters in 2024 in the format. Sanju Samson has hammered two international T20 hundreds this year and has been at his destructive best. Lets look back at Sanju Samson’s prolific year in T20 cricket.
Samson has returned with fairly consistent returns in the IPL since 2017. In each of the seven seasons from 2017 till 2023, he has scored in excess of 300 runs at an average varying 27.5 and 40 and a strike rate between 136.7 and 158.9. But there was no one season where he scored big and did so at an alarming scoring rate.
Sanju Samson scored 484 runs in 2021 at an average of 40.3 but at a slightly underwhelming strike rate of 136.7. He had an average of 34.2 and strike rate of 148.7 in 2019 which in terms of a combination of average and strike rate, was his best year in the IPL. But it was still not a WOW season! Sanju Samson scored at a rate of 158.9 in 2020 – which remains his best scoring rate for any season – but the average was slightly below par at 28.8. Last season, he again struck at 153 but had as many as eight failures in his 14 innings!
Then came 2024. Sanju Samson started the year with a bang with a magnificent unbeaten 82 off just 52 deliveries against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur and never looked back! He hammered four more fifties in the season with his best knock a scintillating 86 off 46 deliveries against the Delhi Capitals, albeit in a losing cause in Delhi. Sanju Samson was the lone warrior in the match even as every other RR batter failed around him.
Sanju Samson’s five fifties in the season were his most ever in a single edition of the IPL. He ended IPL 2024 with an aggregate of 531 runs (his highest aggregate in a season) in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 – his best ever in a season – at a scoring rate of 153.5 (second-best ever in a season). Overall, it was, by some distance, Sanju Samson’s most prolific year in the IPL.
Sanju Samson hit 72 boundaries in the season – his most ever. He spent more time at the crease as indicative from a balls per dismissal ratio of 31.5 – again the highest ever for him in a season. While he attacked the pacers and struck at 162 against them in the season, he was brilliant against spin too rotating the strike and finding the gaps. His dot ball percentage against the slower bowlers was just 20% – his lowest ever in any season.
Sanju Samson represented India in just one solitary T20I in 2015 and then did not play for the country till 2020. He had a torrid time in 2020 and 2021 scoring just 98 runs in nine innings at an average of 10.88. Samson raised the level of his performance in 2022 scoring 179 runs at a rate of 158.4 but failed miserably in the following season in 2023. He could muster 78 runs in six innings in the calendar year at an average of 15.6 and scoring rate of 127.86 with four failures in six outings.
Come South Africa Tour and Sanju Samson spurred by the confidence shown by skipper Suryakumar Yadav who promised him to give a match confirmation albeit his failures repaid it in grand style scoring his 3rd century of 2024 a record one in 5 innings establishing his hold on the opening position with IPL 2025 just round the corner. Recently. the 29-year-old was retained by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 18 crore for IPL 2025. He will also lead the franchise, which has appointed former India coach Rahul Dravid as the head coach.
India’s future in T20 with an eye to defend ICC T20 WC 2026 trophy in India
If India were caught in a perfect storm during their infamous 36 all out in Adelaide, South Africa were hit by its batting equivalent on Friday. The Wanderers is at a height of 1.8km from the sea level, the air so thin that the cliche “when they hit, it stays hit” is probably truer here than at any other international ground. The small square boundaries, 62 and 66 meters, further aided batters.
Despite owning the world’s best T20 league, their only World Cup title in the format had come before the IPL came into existence. Then, at the start of 2024, in desperation to end their ICC trophy drought, they finally embraced T20 cricket. Winning the T20 World Cup in June was a just reward.
The change that was initiated by Rohit Sharma is being carried forward by the current lot. This is the first generation that did not grow up trying to keep their shots down. These guys have been training to hit sixes on demand for years now, and they don’t have the unlearning to do which the older generation did.
At the same time, the team management has backed the players, which is essential given the high-risk nature of this style of cricket. Despite his failures in Sri Lanka, Sanju Samson was told that he would play the next seven games. When Tilak Varma asked to be promoted to No. 3, captain Suryakumar Yadav did not take long to sacrifice his spot.
This is also the closest India have come to recognizing that T20 is a different sport and not just a different format. Barring a name or two, their T20I batting line-up is completely different from the one in Tests and ODIs.
Another thing that has helped Indian batters unlock their latent potential is the Impact Player rule in the IPL. The cushion of an extra batter allowed them to attempt what they were previously afraid of. The IPL may or may not do away with the rule in the future, but it has changed the mindset of the batters forever. And that changed mindset is changing the trajectory of India’s T20 cricket and taking it to new, untouched heights.
The Indian team is on its way to fulfilling its destiny as the dominant force in cricket. With the IPL constantly throwing up new talent, and a coach who knows how to get the best out of players, the multitude of Indian fans can hope to enjoy watching their team play good, selfless cricket to win more often than not.
ICC T20 WC 2026 being staged in India & Sri Lanka, we can expect India to go all guns blazing but they would be thoroughly tested as due to IPL, overseas cricketers are no longer alien to Indian conditions. Given how India has fared, Indian cricket team fans can back India to defend the title and till now in the history of T20 WCs, not a single team has defended the title which says a lot about T20 WC.