India, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, has begun their campaign for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America, against Ireland with a powerful victory, as the former player Harbhajan Singh feels that India need to play as a team with the ‘we’ mentality.
Since lifting the ICC champions trophy in 2013, against England, the blue brigade has not achieved the same feat for over a decade, even after reaching so many semi-finals and finals in the past tournaments.
In June 2023, India reached their second consecutive final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 against Australia but lost the game, before the same opponent handed them an emotional defeat at home during the final of the ODI World Cup 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad.
Looking at how the ‘Men in Blue’ have begun in this tournament, they would likely reach the semi-final stage at least for another edition, but the question remains on whether they could handle the pressure from that point in time.
‘MS Dhoni was a great listener’ – Harbhajan Singh
India’s next assignment in the ongoing tournament is against their arch-rival Pakistan on June 09, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York. The opponents are coming on the back of their heavy-hearted defeat to the co-host United States of America at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.
Rohit Sharma led the team so well in the ODI World Cup, and even during the last edition of this format’s tournament in 2022 until the semi-final at the Adelaide Oval against England, where they batted timidly, and lacked quite a lot of plans in their bowling line-up.
The question remains could India look to go aggressive for the entire tournament in this ninth edition, to end the ICC trophy drought? The former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that the inaugural champions of the competition need to play with a strong mentality to earn success.
“Rohit is not alone, it’s about ‘we.’ If we play as an united team, thinking about collective success rather than individual achievements, then we can win. But if we only focus on personal goals, things become difficult. It’s all about the ‘we’ mentality, and that’s when things come to life,” the veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed during a chat on ‘Star Sports Press Room.
India’s last T20 World Cup win came during the maiden edition in 2007, under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, where they handed the ‘Men in Green’ a five-run defeat. The Punjab-born was a part of the team, and played a huge role in the final of the competition.
Since that final of the tournament, India have reached to the final stage of this competition only once in 2014, where they lost to Sri Lanka in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Harbhajan Singh reflected that the captain of the 2007 team, MS Dhoni was new by then, and he needed support from the seniors, and the good thing about the wicket-keeper batter was taking tips from the other players.
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“Back then, batters didn’t score 25 runs in an over unlike today. The decision-making was always a team effort. When you play together as an united team, you win more competitions. Dhoni was a great listener, taking collective decisions that benefited the team. It was never about individual performances, but playing as ‘we'” he remarked.
Harbhajan Singh also talked about one or two crucial overs in this format that could easily change the flow of the game.
“Dhoni was a new captain and he needed that support from all of us. Before matches against teams like Australia, New Zealand, and England, our core group would get together during the game to strategize for the next few overs. For example, in a match against Australia, I bowled the crucial 17th over or 18th over because if we managed to give away only 4 runs, it saved us a lot,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.