Will India get the combination right for the 2014 ICC World T20 ?
No one gave the Indian Cricket Team led by a young and inexperienced MS Dhoni to win the 2007 World T20. After winning the T20 World Cup in 2007, India failed to replicate its success in the next 3 editions as they failed to reach the knockouts in any of those three World Cups that took place in England, West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively. The fifth edition of the World T20 is all set to get kicked off in a week’s time and all the sixteen participating teams will begin to flood into Bangladesh, the venue for the World Cup in the next few days. The conditions in Bangladesh is known to be batsmen friendly and it makes India as one of the favourites in the tournament. But the current form of the Indian Cricket Team isn’t pleasing. Out of the last sixteen matches India played, they have managed to win only two, and that too against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. This shows the kind of form they are in and the players are low on confidence. But in T20’s all these past happenings and stats doesn’t matter and the thing that matters is three-four hours of good cricket that can outclass the opponents. MS Dhoni is not new to these kind of situations and all the hopes will be rested on Dhoni himself along with his remaining 14 troops who were chosen by the five wise men of Indian Cricket. Those troops are:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohit Sharma and all these men are led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The question that is running on everyone’s mind is that “Are these fifteen men good enough to bring the T20 World Cup back home?” It would have been good if India had the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh for the tournament. But the selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil decided against it. Some may agree with Sandeep Patil and Co.’s decision and some won’t. Those who don’t think that this team is not fit enough for T20 World Cup has no other way but to hope for the best. Being realistic, the existing team cannot be changed now but the playing XI can go under some tinkering in order to make India a strong force in the global extravaganza. Here are the things what the Indian team management should do ahead of getting the team composition for the tournament.
Let’s begin with India’s strongest area i.e. batting. There should not any confusion for the team management to get the 6 six frontline batsmen right. It is most obvious that MS Dhoni, Yuvraj, Raina, Virat, Rohit and Dhawan form the core of the batting line up along with Jadeja as an All-Rounder at number 7. But it should be the batting line-up that has to be wisely decided. Rohit Sharma is known to take his time as an opener before going berserk against the bowlers, the method that won’t suit T20’s with the kind of batsmen the team has. So it won’t be a bad idea to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. This opening combination also allows Raina to bat at his favourite position in T20’s, at number 3. No one other than Yuvraj Singh can fit better at number 4. 3-4 overs of Yuvraj in full flow will see the opposition hiding for covers. Rohit, who was stripped of his opening position can be a best bet at number 5, the position in which he played T20’s for India before being converted as a make-shift opener. Rohit holds key to India’s fortunes at the World Cup as he averages a mind blowing 55 in World T20’s, the best by any player in the tournament’s history. Skipper Dhoni who is known for his big hitting ability will be the perfect fix at number 6. While batting first, he makes sure that India finishes the innings off in style and while chasing, he calmly guides India home, the reasons why he is called as the best finisher at present. He might also take the responsibility and promote himself up the order for crucial chases. Jadeja, who is becoming more and more impressive as he plays International Cricket is capable of delivering some lusty blows at the fag end of an innings.
Now moving on to India’s major headache for the past few years, their mighty bowling attack. Shami Ahmed and R Ashwin are the two frontline bowlers who are certain to be in the playing XI with All-Rounder Jadeja, who will be sharing the spinning duties with Ashwin. It wouldn’t be a bad choice if the team goes in with three spinners and two seamers especially with the tournament scheduled to take part in conditions that has nothing for the pacers. In that case, Amit Mishra will be in the playing XI. Including Mishra in the starting XI won’t be a bad choice after his impressive performances in Asia Cup at Mirpur, the venue that will also host India’s matches in the T20 World Cup. Now the huge question mark is “which pacer among Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron and Mohit Sharma will fill in the only remaining slot”? Aaron is the least likely to get a place in the playing XI after a series of poor shows in New Zealand. Kumar is a bowler who swings the ball in the beginning and also can get the yorkers right at the end, the weapon that is missing in Indian bowlers’ armoury for a while. But he does not have the pace to frighten the batsmen. On the other hand, Mohit is kind of bowler who is economical with the ball and likes to finish his quota of four overs at the beginning. Once the ball gets old, Mohit is just half-a-bowler. He also impressed the skipper MS Dhoni while playing for CSK. It will be interesting to see whether Dhoni will keep his faith on Mohit or opt for a settled combination of Bhuvi and Shami. It is always safe to go in with the tried combination instead of trying something new. So it won’t a surprise if Bhuvi takes the new ball. Yuvraj Singh and Raina too can bowl some crucial overs whenever they are asked to do so.
So the strongest Indian playing XI will be: Dhawan, Virat, Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit, Dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin, Mishra, Kumar and Shami.
After doing all these analysis, we can just sit back and hope for the team to do well and bring the World T20 Cup back home.
