Key lessons from T20 World Cup as Team India rebuilds in New Zealand

Everyone has the will to succeed, but few have the will to prepare for it.” This quote by American Basketball coach Bobby Knight, resonates well with the current state of Indian cricket. While many plans and strategies were laid out after the debacle in the 2021 T20 World Cup, none were strongly implemented whereby India returned empty-handed from yet another World Cup. Now, the wait for an ICC Trophy has extended to 10 years since it was 2013 when Indian won the Champions Trophy in England. For the change to happen, Team India just has to take a leaf out of England’s book. Many experts have pointed out the transformation and the efforts put in by the English management to overhaul their white ball cricket. In 2015, England were rudely jolted as they were ousted from the group league in the ODI World Cup. What happened after that is history as the English team appointed a new captain for the shorter format in Eoin Morgan and changed their approach to playing fearless cricket. Today, they have become the only team in cricket history to hold both the ODI and T20 World Cups at the same time. It wasn’t just the captain that they changed in 2015. Instead, players suited to and specialists in the shorter formats were given priority over more established players. The whole cricketing world wants to emulate their strategy now, and India put a plan in place last year by bringing together the RohitRahul duo as the captaincoach to usher in this change, especially keeping in mind the 2022 T20 World Cup. Sadly, at the recent World Cup, India faltered by playing the same brand of cricket that they have been following for years

The fans are unhappy and want major changes to take place in the team. A traditional approach to batting, backing out of form senior players, an effective bowling attack with no space for wrist spinners and poor captaincy are some of the key factors behind India’s poor show in big games. But it is the style of play that needs the biggest tweaking along with an aggressive approach to the game. In the semi-final against England, India started poorly in the powerplay overs, something that Rohit had claimed the team was working on seriously. In many bilateral series leading up to the World Cup, India had played aggressively at the start but in crucial games and tense situations, they faltered. The T20 game has changed a lot since India won the title back in 2007 and the approach to batting has evolved enormously. Unfortunately, most Indian players are still stuck in the past, playing old-fashioned cricket. Even some of the selections were bizarre and many experts questioned why a match winner like Rishabh Pant was not in the playing eleven. Dinesh Karthik was not part of the team’s setup for years after the 2019 ODI World Cup and had started commentating with Sky Sports. But he was recalled solely on the basis of his performances in the IPL. Moreover, India lacked depth in the bowling department. With the injury to Jasprit Bumrah, India missed a genuine pace bowler, one who could bowl well at the top and in death overs. Every team had one or two genuine quick bowlers which the Indian team lacked

More than the quicks it was the surprising omission of Yuzvendra Chahal who wasn’t picked for a single game! England bamboozled India and Pakistan both in the knockout matches with the leg spin of Adil Rashid. In fact, much of Pakistan’s success can be attributed to the leg spin of Shadab Khan. But India played Ashwin and Axar, both of whom went for plenty in the semis against England as they bowled predictably without any element of surprise. Now, barely a week after crashing out of the World Cup, Team India begins a white ball series in New Zealand hoping for a fresh start to its search for a right combination. With Hardik Pandya leading a young side, India will look ahead to locate players with an approach that befits the modern T20 game. Umran Malik, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson will be the players to lookout for in the series. This new-looking squad under Pandya will give the selectors an idea of who can be the potential replacements for many of the seniors in the coming years. Both India and New Zealand were knocked out in the Semi-finals of the T20 World Cup and will be keen to make amends - and that promises a gripping series as both sides battle to showcase their full potential!!

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN  The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi film industry