Almost a year has passed since India’s dismal show at the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup in UAE where they could not manage to get past the group stage.
As the long wait for a T20 world title continues, India are now back once again to feature in another World Cup, this time in Australia.
The men in blue last won the coveted trophy in its inaugural edition in 2007 under captain MS Dhoni. Since then, India have finished runners-up once (2014) and reached one semi-final (2016).
India’s ouster from last year’s World Cup resulted in a huge uproar from fans and pundits and what ensued was a series of changes -- from leadership and management to the side’s playing approach in the shortest format.
Rohit Sharma to Steer the Ship
The 2021 World Cup was star batter Virat Kohli’s final assignment as India’s T20I captain.
Though he enjoyed success as India’s Test captain, Kohli’s numbers in the white-ball format were not as appealing. The batter had announced his decision to relinquish T20I captaincy ahead of the World Cup in a bid to manage his workload across formats and after the early exit, the BCCI moved swiftly and handed the reigns to Rohit Sharma.
The 2022 World Cup in Australia will be the Rohit's maiden stint as Team India captain in an ICC tournament.
Rahul Dravid Plays Guide
Rohit’s ascendency as captain also saw a major shift in the team’s management as Rahul Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri as head coach after the conclusion of the 2021 World Cup.
Only batting coach Vikram Rathour remained part of the side’s support staff from the previous set-up as bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar too moved away.
While Rathour was re-elected as the batting coach following an impressive stint with Shastri & Co, Paras Mhambrey joined as the side’s bowling coach and T Dilip the fielding coach respectively.
No More Risk-free Cricket
The Rohit-Rahul era ushered in a change in attitude and approach to India’s playing style.
For long, India had been criticised for their age-old risk-free approach in T20Is and it was time to shed the bygone mentality which often disallowed the team to switch up gears unless required, and the first change the pair brought was to the side’s batting style.
India lacked a clear-cut batting template in the World Cup last year where they registered low scores of 151 and 110 batting first against Pakistan and New Zealand, eventually biting the dust.
Since then, India have adopted a more aggressive approach, offering full freedom for their batters to swing the bat from the get-go, be it batting first or chasing.
Though the new method comes with its own disadvantages, it has helped them more often than not. In fact, the team won eight of the nine bilateral series that they played since the World Cup last year. The only aberration was the Asia Cup group-stage exit last month.
With the formula working in their favour, Team India, as asserted by skipper Rohit are ready to take on the risks but play an attacking brand of cricket simultaneously when they compete at the World Cup Down Under.
Six New Faces Get Ticket
Since the advent of T20 cricket, India have mostly fielded the same side that featured for them in the ODIs.
The new team management under captain Rohit, however, decided to make some changes and offered opportunities to new faces and constantly experimented with the side.
As many as seven players were handed T20I debuts since the World Cup in UAE, with seamers Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and all-rounder Deepak Hooda being the only three who made it into the final fifteen for the trip to Australia this month.
Apart from these three, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel have also been included in the squad from last year, making it a total of six changes.
Leg-spinner Chahal, who was a shocking omission in the previous edition is back and will lead India’s spin attack. Dinesh Karthik too returns after being part of the 2007 World Cup-winning squad and has grown into one of the first-choice finishers within the side.
Axar Patel, meanwhile is a like-for-like replacement for the injured Ravindra Jadeja.
Six Miss The Bus
A key player for India over the years, all-rounder Jadeja would have been a certainty in the team had it not been for a knee injury which ruled him out of the event.
The same goes with premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, probably the biggest blow for India, as he failed to make the cut due to back stress.
Bumrah's injury opened the doors for Mohammed Shami, who was part of India's World Cup squad last year. Shami has managed to retain his place this year as well after being included as a replacement for the injured Bumrah.
Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj, who were roped in following an injury to another reserve player -- Deepak Chahar, are in the standby list.
Thakur featured in the last World Cup, however, his chances this time look grim. Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi are the other standby players.
Meanwhile, surprise inclusions in last year’s squad -- Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy have all missed out on a spot this time. Only Ishan had played for India since the last World Cup, but few game chances and poor T20 form saw him miss the bus.
By backing a batting line-up that featured last time, minus Ishan, the team management has shown they have full faith in their experienced campaigners. The bowling department, though affected by Bumrah's absence has a few new faces who could spring a surprise when the event unfolds Down Under.
India's T20 World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
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