World Cup 2019: 3 areas where the 2011 Indian squad had an edge over 2019 Indian squad

With the conclusion of the Indian General Elections 2019, all eyes will now be set towards the much-awaited ICC World Cup 2019. The Indian Elections saw plenty of fire and fury from supporters that spanned across different party lines, but the World Cup will unite the country to cheer for the ‘Men in Blue’. It is rightly said that cricket and politics are two religions in India and 2019 is providing the best of both for the Indian public. The Indian Premier League was followed by the results of the elections which will now be followed by the World Cup. Indians surely have a lot to keep themselves occupied this summer.

The Indian team were victorious in 2011 at home and that beautiful memory is enshrined in the heart of every Indian cricket fan. Whether it was the victory over arch-rivals Pakistan, the nail-biting Yuvraj-Raina partnership against Australia in the quarter-finals, or the six over long on by Dhoni at the Wankhede Stadium to win the trophy, that tournament was truly a gem every Indian was lucky to witness. The 2011 Indian team had a unique mix of youth and experience and it will be interesting to compare the composition of the 2011 squad to the 2019 squad.

Maturity in captaincy

MS Dhoni

The victorious 2011 squad was captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who already had some prestigious trophies under his belt before he led the 2011 squad. He had won the 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia in 2008.

While the 2007 World T20 squad consisted of younger and largely inexperienced players such as Robin Uthappa, S Sreesanth, and Rohit Sharma, some of the other teams Dhoni had captained such as the Indian Test team in 2008-09 consisted of players like VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar. Before Dhoni stepped into the 2011 World Cup, he had tasted success while captaining teams with different skills sets and experience levels which gave him an edge while mixing and matching different combinations of youth and experience at the 2011 tournament.

Even though Virat Kohli has not had a lot of time on the captain’s seat and it is premature to compare his captaincy to Dhoni’s captaincy, it can be said that Kohli's captaincy is largely inexperienced and unexposed and that may make a difference. Kohli does not have a lot of experience captaining India in big tournaments. His only experience yet is the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 and the humiliating defeat to Pakistan in the final might still play on his mind. In contrast, Dhoni had captained India in 3 ICC World T20s and 1 ICC Champions Trophy before the 2011 World Cup. It will be interesting to see how Kohli reacts under pressure on the big stage and when things don’t go right for the team.

Team experience

Indian squad from 2011 was full of experienced players

The 2011 team consisted of a few big boys such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, and Zaheer Khan. Even though senior players can often be seen with disgruntle as they are not the swiftest and sharpest on their feet in the field, senior players bring valuable experience when things don’t go right.

Who can forget the reverse swing and crucial wickets Zaheer Khan brought with the old ball just before the 34th over ball change in the 2011 World Cup, the crucial knock by Gautam Gambhir in the final, and the Raina-Yuvraj partnership in the quarter-finals? Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar provided crucial starts in almost every match and seldom got out cheaply or while playing shots under pressure. The seniors of the squad did their bit and held the team together when required.

The current squad certainly lacks experience. Crucial players in the Indian team like Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul are playing their first ever World cup. In crucial instances, talent and exuberance can take the back seat and experience and composure can guide a player ahead. It will be a golden opportunity for these youngsters to go ahead and make their mark in their first World Cup itself. But it will certainly be tricky for Virat Kohli to manage this talent-rich yet largely inexperienced squad in the World Cup.

During the ICC Champions Trophy Finals in 2017, we saw the Indian batting line up shatter in front of the lethal Pakistan bowling. India's performances during high-pressure matches in the ICC tournaments recently have been largely disappointing due to players faltering on the big stage and committing some grave mistakes. This was evident in India's loss to Australia in the 2015 World Cup semi-final, India's loss to West Indies in the 2016 World T20 semi-final, and India's loss to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final.

Favourable and familiar playing conditions

Yuvraj Singh

The 2011 World Cup was played in India and the Indian team was well-versed with the playing conditions. The Indian batsmen have always been great players of spin and the Indian armory in 2011 consisted of spinners like Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Piyush Chawla. These three spinners played crucial roles in all the matches and gave India the edge over some of the other teams like New Zealand, England, and Australia who struggled to capitalize on the spin-friendly pitches. India also had handy part-time spinners such as Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and Yusuf Pathan. Yuvraj Singh was fantastic with the bowl along with his batting heroics. Yuvraj Singh picked up 2 wickets each in the final and the semi-finals. His peak bowling performance was against Ireland where he picked up 5 wickets.

India will miss the spin-friendly pitches in England. If the recently concluded series between England and Pakistan gives us any idea of what things might be on offer, the pitches will be anything but spin-friendly. The spinners of both sides were easily dispatched and posed no real threat with the white ball.

Even India’s tour of England last year displayed a similar tale for the Indian spinners. The Indian spinners were successful in the test matches especially during the last two or three days of the test matches. But the Indian spinners struggled to create any dominant impact during the one-day matches. The English batsman hardly struggled to read Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as the pitches had very little to offer to the Indian spinners.

Spin has always been India’s strength and seam and swing has always troubled India. The Indian batsmen will have to be prepared to play against plenty of quality pace bowlers. If the recent warm-up fixture between India and New Zealand is considered, facing seam bowling seems to be a challenge as the Indian top order was dismantled quickly by the New Zealand seam bowlers and India was bowled out for 179. In fact, India lost all 10 wickets to New Zealand seam bowlers.

It will be interesting to see how India will adapt to the England conditions. India does have a formidable seam bowling line-up to rise to the challenge. The line-up consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar is definitely promising and the additional contributions from Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar will be vital.

Considering the amount of cricket India has played in England in the past two years with the England series last year and the Champions Trophy in 2017, it will be disappointing to see if India arrives at the scene under-prepared to face this challenge.

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Indian cricket team representing the nation in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is nothing short of talent. A young energetic side will be hard to keep silent. The World Cup will be long and excruciating with 9 league matches and 2 knockout matches if the ‘Men in Blue’ want to raise the trophy. The young side should cope up to this challenge and keep their energy high.

Indian fans can not wait for the boys to take the field on 5th June. Whether that is the Shikhar Dhawan’s blistering starts to the innings, Virat’s batting exuberance, Pandya’s hard-hitting, or the Dhoni’s finishing, the Indian fans are all set to watch India dominate and hopefully win the tournament for the third time.