5 areas of concern for India's T20 team

Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily represent that of Sportskeeda

It's been 12 years since India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007. Much to the delight of Indian spectators, it was a stellar performance from a relatively young side that resulted in a memorable win for the ages. In a way, it helped give birth to the greatest T20 spectacle across the world - the Indian Premier League.

In spite of all the controversies, IPL still inspires millions of cricket fans across the world, attracting riches galore and also the cream of international cricketers for games held in an atmosphere that matches to any big ICC event, even the World Cup itself.

But, in spite of such a rich franchise cricket in place with the highest level of competition, why does India rank so low in the T20I rankings?

In T20I series in the last one year, India has failed to win in 4 out of the 5 series played.

• India vs NZ in NZ, 18: Result - Lost 1-2
• India vs Aus in Australia'18: Result - Draw 1-1
• India vs Aus in India'19: Result - Lost 0-2
• India vs WI in WI'19: Result - Won 3-0
• India vs SA in India'19: Result - Draw 1-1

This article tries to explore what has led to the underperformance of the Indian team in international T20 cricket. We look at selection mishaps, illogical decisions in leadership, explore how genuine the reasons stated and try to give an unbiased view of what is ailing the Indian T20 team.

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#1 Need to get better at selections

The current selection committee formed as a result of the conflict of interest & the BCCI-CoA tussles has been finding it tough, with criticism from all corners. However, not one to hold themselves back, they gave potshots at people who criticized them like Farookh Engineer found out. Although they may claim India is World No.1 in Tests, No.2 in ODIs, won in Australia under their vigil. But, if one looks at the finer print, India won against a depleted Aussie side and were beaten comprehensively on tours of South Africa & England.

It is the selections in T20 that leave much to be desired. There has been so many chopping and changing in the side, one is not sure which is the side that represents India. The India cap is being devalued and distributed casually. This has resulted in players being unsure of their places, the roles they play in the squad and as a result of all this, India find themselves at number 5 in T20I rankings.

The selectors have given two prime reasons for these constant changes - one is preparation for World T20 to be held in 2020 & second being managing player workloads. Let's look at both the reason in more detail to check how relevant are these reasons.

Also see - Mushtaq Ali schedule

#2 World Cup preparation?

Any preparation is good as long as it results in a victory. So, let's look at what preparation did the teams do for the World Cup wins in 2007 and 2011? India hardly played any T20 cricket before the World Cup in 2007. Most of the seniors at the time opted out of the tournament. IPL didn't exist. No one knew what to expect from the format or the tournament. Except for a few, most players had represented India in one format or the other. It was also MS Dhoni's first assignment as a cricket captain. So, India went into the tournament with practically zero preparation. And came victorious.

Look at the 2011 victory, it was the same side playing together for a few years preceding the World Cup. Except for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin & Suresh Raina, who were new, even they were in the squad in the preceding years & playing as well. So, hardly any preparation in the 2011 victory as well. Settled side, players playing in the same role for years, everyone knew what to do, and everything fell in place on the night of 2nd April 2011.

As a selector, you got to know your best XI. We have already seen what overpreparation does in the World Cup 2019. India has a stellar tournament in IPL with 14-16 games with the highest level of competition against the best of players from across the world. One would think, it would be enough to identify the best XI. Does it require to try out so many players in the name of preparation?

It also raises questions when the Bumrahs and Pandyas return, what happens to these players. Will these new players make way? And when would the retuning players prepare? The main contention is why is the India cap being distributed so casually? Preparation is best with good old preparation camps. Only the best XI in the country should represent the country, whichever format. Period.

#3 Workload mismanagement

Yes, agreed this team is playing the most any Indian team has ever played. They are also playing in different countries, cities than they were a decade ago, which also means a lot of days in travel as well. Having said that, it is for this very physical demands of the modern game, that India has put in some measures to assess the fitness of players with tests like the Yo-Yo test. The players are supposed to be at the best of their physical prowess to score in these tests & make themselves fit for selections. The support team of physios, massage therapists, analysts, etc. are also as big as the playing squad itself. Their main objective is to improve the level of player fitness, keeping them injury-free. In spite of all this, why are players getting injured now and then? Why do their workloads need to be managed, in the first place? Shouldn't they be fit enough?

The nature of these fitness tests are also dubious -- there have been reports of players being dropped in spite of scoring well in these tests. Even so-called workload management is questionable. The fittest player in the country, Ravindra Jadeja, why he is being rested? Where is Vijay Shankar, the player who cost Ambati Rayudu a World Cup place and also in a way, put a hard stop to his career? Where is Kedar Jadhav? In terms of balls played in the calendar year, there is hardly any difference in terms of workload between Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma. However, often there are calls to rest Virat instead of Rohit. When you set high standards for fitness with Yo-Yo tests etc. and then go on long breaks to keep yourself fit, how fair it is to drop people based on their fitness. Sunil Gavaskar himself said, why to play senseless and contextless series & then rest key players for those series, hurting India in the long run.

#4 Selection - Work in progress

There have been some strange selections that have plagued the T20 team. It can be classified into two areas. Illogical selection of players in the squad by selectors & goof-ups by team management in the playing XI. Let's look at the current squad itself. In the name of workload management & World Cup preparation, we have ended up with the current squad. The basic criteria of any selection committee should be picking players who are worthy of India cap and would play for a long time. However, the rationale behind the selection of certain players seems questionable.

Leg spinner - India won quite a few series with the spinners Chahal & Kuldeep. In spite of them doing so well and mesmerising batsmen world over, still, they were dropped for reasons unknown. With Rahul Chahar, having the highest score of 13* and 28 wickets in 27 odd domestic T20 games, there is nothing extraordinary about his bowling, records or skills that he is chosen ahead of the spin duo, whom India had backed till recently.

Left-arm spinner - In recent times, India has played three left-arm spinners in Jadeja, Krunal & Axar. If you compare all the three players in T20Is, there is very little difference between them. Krunal may be marginally better with the bat, but in terms of bowling & fielding, the other two fare far better. But, why would you choose him over one of the best left-arm spinners in the world, lightening fielder and a player who has scored Test hundred in Ravindra Jadeja? If better wicket-taking abilities were the reason why Jadeja and Ashwin were replaced by Chahal & Kuldeep, what's the point in going to Krunal, who isn't doing that great with the ball & field, and has been inconsistent with the bat.

Fast bowlers - With Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Saini in the ranks, there no reason to keep Khaleel and Shardul, who continue to fail. Military medium bowlers with an average speed of 130 kph are just the right hitting speed for modern-day batsmen. And that shows in their economy rates, there is nothing much a skipper can do, with bowlers giving away 8+ runs an over.

All-rounder - Till recently, Vijay Shankar was seen as the backup of Hardik, now, the onus has been put on Shivam. If you look at his domestic records, there is nothing significant for him to be chosen. An all-rounder is valuable to any team, but to find one is rare. And the India 'A' performances based on which, he was selected, didn't have any defining spell with the ball. India would be better placed if an experienced batsman plays if bowling is not the criteria.

Wicketkeeper - A lot has been written and talked about Pant. So, there is nothing much to be added, except that performances should matter and they should come with an expiry date. And if Samson is not going to play, then there's no point in having two keepers in the squad. It is disappointing to see Pant getting out on the same shot, missing easy dismissals, goofing up on DRS.

Off-spinner - Hands down, Ravi Ashwin is the master here. With the bat and with the ball, Ashwin is the better and more experienced player than Washington. Whether IPL or international cricket, there is no comparison. It has been proved, by CSK in 2018 IPL, age is not a factor in the T20 format. Yes, you get agility, energy, but it needs something more important, the experience of playing in different situations and calmness in facing them. Writing off experience will only harm Indian cricket. There has to be a mix of experience and youth for any World cup winning squad.

#5 Captaincy and team management

Finally, it comes to team management and captaincy. We all know what is Virat Kohli's T20 record in IPL and also Team India. What is the most excruciating pain for fans of both teams i.e. RCB and Team India, is the same mistakes continue to be repeated. Take any great team, you find the basics of a steady combination, continuity, consistency. Even in IPL, CSK, MI are teams who have hardly changed much in their squads. Both teams have a settled look, which shows in the results.

Some of the decisions taken have been so obscure, dropping Chahal and Kuldeep to strengthen batting at 9,10. What message does that give to the batsmen? That will also mean you don't pick proper bowlers but, bits and pieces cricketers.

Team combinations with just only four specialist batsmen, that leaves the team in crisis when the top order collapses, batsmen like Rishabh and Krunal not knowing how to go about in such situations. Ideally, you would want balanced combinations instead of packing the team with bits and pieces cricketers. Players like Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson continue to be on the sidelines, even if selected in the squad.

All these illogical selections and decisions are easily pushed under the carpet with the excuse of World Cup preparation. So, no one will question the team management and captain for it. Just as winning is a habit, so is losing. Somehow, like RCB, that bad habit has crept into the Indian team as well. Finally, to summarise, India needs to know what is the best XI and pick the same team, without too many changes and get into the habit of winning. But, all this can happen if Team India has one basic attribute which is missing from the team today, and more than anything, the team is missing Dhoni especially for that invaluable and elusive attribute called common sense. Kohli & co. better start developing it before its too late