World T20 is around the corner and all of us are eagerly waiting for our Team to repeat the wonders of 2007. But then the million dollar question arises! Is our team ready?
India have played only a handful of international T20s in the past two years, leaving aside the IPL games its bit of a worry. And from the bashing India took from South Africa in the last concluded home series, things are looking pretty gloomy for the Men in Blue.
If we look at the team, match practice is an obvious concern but is it the primary concern?
The team composition and the T20I form of the current squad raise many eyebrows. The problems start right from the top. Shikhar Dhawan doesn’t inspire much when it comes to opening in T20Is.
He is just a mere shadow of himself when it’s time for T20. He just goes into a shell sometimes, trying to hit the ball too hard rather than trusting his gifted timing. Even though he has just stepped into the international T20 arena, his numbers are pretty ordinary (average close to 14 and a strike rate of 100) for his standards.
The only ray of hope for India at the top is the form of “Hitman” Rohit Sharma. In one day formats, Rohit and Virat Kohli has been the backbone of Indian batting in the recent years. But Dhawan’s unsurely approach and tentativeness could make the situations worse for these two. They need to lay the foundation often rather than going out and expressing themselves.
When it comes to the middle order things don’t look pretty either. Raina and Rahane are blowing hot and cold in the shortest version, the unpredictability factor is creeping up in the middle order that eventually builds loads of pressure on captain Dhoni, who sometimes look like a warrior who has forgotten his skills.
Lower order batting has names that look good on paper like Ashwin and Jadeja. Both are coming after a highly successful home test series with the ball, but a real hitter who packs a punch like Pollard or Afridi is missing.
On the bowling front, Ashwin’s and Jadeja’s 8 overs will be like gold dust for Dhoni, but remaining overs has some serious concern. Fast bowling looks very weak with Dhoni’s stubborn support for military medium pace. Neither of Dhoni’s so-called ‘steady bowlers’ like Bhuvi, Aravind, Mohit and Binny look like a wicket taking bowler.
What could be the solutions?
Mayank Agarwal is now looking like a finished product, proving his worth in almost all the opportunities he got to represent India A. A clean striker of the ball, confident and energetic.
What else do you need right at the top! He also could save plenty of runs with his electric fielding. Looking at his current form, he is the best contender for the opening spot to replace Dhawan.
Shreyas Iyer is considered as the next big thing from Mumbai, an out and out stroke maker who is extremely fearless. Coming at No.4, he could propel the team in the middle overs.
He has been playing fairly well in the ongoing Ranji Trophy and it is sure that his confidence will be sky high and who knows just an outing with the national team and the rest would be history.
Coming to the lower order and the ever persisting problem of fast bowling all-rounder there are not many options. The best available are Stuart Binny, Hardik Pandya, and Rishi Dhawan.
Stuart Binny and Rishi Dhawan are more of the same breed, Steady batters combined with ‘peaceful’ medium pace bowling. There is not enough ‘X’ factor, leave aside aggression.
Hardik Pandya from Baroda is someone special. His exploits for Mumbai Indians caught everyone’s eyes. While batting, he is flamboyant, hard hitting and could make the bowlers ran out of ideas.
When he has the ball in his hand he makes sure that batsman will have a hard time facing him .He hits the deck hard and could make the batsman sweat for his runs. Characters like him are really needed in India’s lower order that could just snatch the game from opposition’s hand within the span of overs.
The next best available options in this aspect are Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan but with age in their hand, they need to grind out in the domestic circuit to sharpen their skills to become the next breakout stars of the Indian cricket.
On the bowling front, the possible return of Mohammed Shami will boost lots of hope along with that it would not be a bad idea to try out the likes of Harshal Patel, Anureet Singh, Shardul Thakur to name a few. All of them could be pretty sharp on their day and deliver pin point yorkers and bouncers.
Having said all this, the onus is on the selectors and the team management to show some character and take some bold decisions that could rewrite history.
"A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow."
— George Patton
