With around five days to go before the start of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, set to take place in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), India have reached the US with few of their members of the squad.
The inaugural champions of the tournament haven’t won any of its editions in the last 16 years. In the last T20 World Cup 2022, India lost the semifinal by a huge 10-wicket margin against England at the Adelaide Oval ground. On many occasions, like in 2016 or 2014, they have slipped on the knockout stage.
When most of the teams are looking to add youngsters in the side, the ‘Blue brigade’ have focused mostly on keeping faith in their experienced players in the batting department, as Rohit Sharma will lead the side, with Virat Kohli expected to shoulder the team with the bat in hand.
‘The irony is the only time India have won the T20 World Cup was…’ – Mike Atherton
With the amount of talent and skilful players India have, it’s quite surprising to see them not winning any ICC trophy in more than a decade, since lifting the ‘Champions Trophy’ in 2014. In the last T20 World Cup, the Rohit Sharma-led side spoke about the aggressive version of the format.
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For the whole league stage of the tournament, they went for the big scores and got the wins, but just when the big stage appeared, India went under the shell in the semifinal. Even on a good batting surface in Adelaide, they could score 38/1 in their powerplay. The captain was dismissed for 27 balls at a strike rate of under 100.
The same goes with the way they played the last year’s Men’s ODI World Cup. For the whole league stage, the batting order looked in splendid touch, with everyone playing with freedom. But as the final came against Australia in Ahmedabad, India again batted in a timid way.
Even after that the former England captain Eoin Morgan feels that the Indian team are the strongest in the upcoming tournament of the shortest format, thanks to the incredible depth and talent with stable unity.
The left-handed batter also pointed out that players whom India have left out such as Rinku Singh or Shubman Gill for the world event are unbelievably strong.
‘The strongest side, even with injuries throughout the tournament, is India, without a doubt. Their strength and depth is absolutely incredible at the moment,” the former England T20 captain Eoin Morgan expressed on the ‘Sky Sports Podcast’. “And it’s almost probably, we’re talking about who the players that were missed out in their squad of 15 because of the quality that they possess.”
Virat Kohli ended the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with the ‘Orange Cap’ thanks to his 741 runs at a strike rate of 154.69, while Jasprit Bumrah, the leader of the bowling department, captured 20 wickets at an economy of 6.48.
‘They are favourites for me. I think that they’re just the quality that they have on paper,” the member of England’s 2010 T20 World Cup winning team said. “If they produce it, I think they can, they can beat anybody quite well in the tournament.”
The tournament gave birth to the IPL, which changed the scenario of the format in the recent times. But even with that, India didn’t make any such progress in the format.
Another former England captain and a renowned commentator, Michael Atherton discussed how Indi haven’t won a World Cup in the format since the start of their T20 league.
‘They haven’t won it since that first World Cup back in 2007. That’s the great irony,” Mike Atherton remarked in the same discussion. “That’s how long It’s also an irony because everybody talks about the IPL and how that has improved. India’s T20 cricket. The irony is the only time they’ve won it was pre-IPL.”
India will start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign on June 05 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.