Team India at a glance ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup

The hands of the clock are racing faster than ever as India prepares to take the yard for the first time in the 2022 T20 World Cup where they will be opening their campaign against arch-rivals, Pakistan. As Melbourne gears up for the ultimate battle, with the clouds glaring menacingly from above, the speculations are already flying high.

India will be heading into the biennial extravaganza on the back of some imperious form as they drowned the likes of a full-fledged South Africa and Australia back home. However, questions will continue to persist about India’s death bowling, a vulnerable aspect for the Men in Blue ever since the Asia Cup campaign. Before India kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign, here is a quick glance at Team India’s possible strengths, areas of concern and X-factors.

Strengths:

India will be coming high on some terrific batting form from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Despite Rohit Sharma’s quietness by his own standards, the Indian captain has also managed to add crucial runs up front at a breezy rate, another crucial aspect of Team India’s new ‘go-hard’ approach. Kohli’s return after a month-long break has seen him bringing forth his signature elements while KL Rahul is finally getting into the groove.

However, India’s major strength is their middle-order where a resurgent Hardik Pandya will combine with Suryakumar Yadav who is in the form of his life in the shortest format of the game. From bossing giants of the sport to deploying a 360-degree approach, he can be a game-changer in those middle overs as the bouncy surfaces of Australia beckon.

Possible points of concern:

Team India’s fielding has been a mixed bag ever since their participation in the continental fray. At times they have been exceptionally brilliant like Virat Kohli in their warm-up match against Australia while on other instances, the team has been downright ordinary with sitters being grassed. Rahul Dravid will be hoping for the Indian contingent to batten up their hatches in the field as an iota of an error can prove to be a costly blow to the Indian aspirations.

Another major factor that can be a serious bane for the Indians is their death bowling. With Bumrah out of the mix, it will be interesting to see how Rohit lines up his troops for those intimidating death overs. Mohammed Shami will obviously be one of the forerunners for bowling those crucial spells while Arshdeep Singh may also have to lead the Indian unit when the crunch comes knocking.

X-factors:

There are three possible x-factors in the Indian unit - Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Dinesh Karthik. Hardik has been impeccable ever since his return to the national team while Suryakumar Yadav is altogether in a different headspace now. Given his proclivity towards dispatching short balls to the ropes, the bounce on the Australian pitches can actually be the major uplift that he would be hoping to come his way.

Dinesh Karthik, however, will be an interesting addition to the mix as his role remains crystal clear. He is ought to come out at the death and start taking out the bowlers without waiting wasting a single ball. We have all seen how a bright finish is important in carrying the momentum to the second half of the play or how in a tight chase, a couple of boundaries can upset the apple cart. The presence of DK ensures exactly that precious momentum.

A lot will be seen and tested at Melbourne as India take on Pakistan for their World Cup starter and Rohit Sharma and co will be hellbent to prove a point, especially in the opener as what happened a year back will still be burning bright in the memories.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Shami.