5 reasons why India are a dominant T20 side

With the series-levelling in the third T20 international in Sydney in the ongoing tour down under, India extended their unbeaten run in T20s to 10 successive series. Australia can thank the weather gods for the same as it could have been much worse for the home team had the rain not intervened in the first two games of this 3-match bilateral series.

The first two games were in India's grasp for the most part of the game and could have been an 8th consecutive T20 series for the men in blue if not for the rain.

One has to say that the Indian T20 set up is one of the finest going around with a solid bench strength to support. India has an overall win percentage of 64% in T20's which is really great.

This article is about why the Indian team has become a strong T20 unit over the years, and here are the 5 reasons why.

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#5 Finisher's role has been handled well

An able replacement for MS Dhoni?

One can say he is a man who can come close to the level of MS Dhoni in maintaining his composure in tense situations. He has donned the role of the finisher to perfection in the presence of MSD. Who can ever forget his knock in the finals of the Nidhas Trophy? That was a turning point in the career of DK.

He is turning out to be a player for the crisis and could be a regular after the retirement of the legend. He has turned a new leaf to say the least over the past couple of years.

Not only Karthik, but someone one or the other has taken a mantle upon themselves to take the team home.

#4 The IPL

IPL has been a major factor in India's dominance in T20's

T20 became prevalent in India mainly because of the inaugural world T20 which India won. This led to the creation of the phenomenon called the Indian Premier League n 2008. Since then things have been only up as far as the limited overs cricket is concerned in India.

The IPL has been a grooming ground for many players who have gone onto becoming great players not only in T20's but across all formats.

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#3 The Bowling Department

One of the best in the business.

India used to struggle in the early part of the millennium or the one before that due to the fact they lack quality pace bowlers. They had fast bowlers who were not as feared as much as the bowlers from other countries.

But it all changed over the past decade which emergence of fast bowlers with the pace that can even outshine the best in the world. This has led to improvement in death bowling to go with the tradition of being kings of spin bowling.

#2 Indian openers

One of the best going around

One of the reasons behind the success of India in the shortest format of the game is the starts provided by the openers. India has mostly played either Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul (in the absence of one the regulars). They all have been successful for India in their own right.

They have taken the game to the opposition and each has the ability to punish any bowling attack on their day. This to go with solid middle order makes India one of the best lineups in the world.

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#1 Virat Kohli

Virat has evolved into a great T20 batsman

Virat may be the undisputed king of ODIs at the moment, but he is also a successful T20 player. He has been instrumental in many of India's wins over the past few years but has played only limited International matches compared to his contemporaries in recent times.

He is the fastest to reach the 2000 run mark in T20Is and looks set for breaking more such records in the future.