India has been tipped by many as one of the favourites to win the T20 World Cup this time. But then there are other favourites like Srilanka, Pakistan and West Indies, as well. What comes in favour of the Indian colts are the familiar pitch conditions. In Bangladesh wickets are slow, where the spinners will come into play and obviously sub-continental batsmen will have a good time around. Srilanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are fresh from their Asia Cup campaign in the first week of March. But India has its own worries to address. This time around the flair with which we associate the Indian team is not around. India will miss the services of Gambhir and Sehwag. They were the best opening pair India had after Sachin- Saurav and Sachin- Sehwag. Yuvraj Singh is not the same he used to be six years back, even though he looks fitter having lost some weight. After 2007, India’s performance in the subsequent T20 World Cups has been lacklusture. 2007 was where, Dhoni the captain began his innings as Captain Marvel. It has been a roller coaster ride for him winning the ICC World Cup 2011 and India topping the ICC Rankings.
With the advent of the IPL, India has failed to impress in the subsequent world cups. The IPL is not to be blamed, but with many foreigners playing in the Ipl they are getting more used to the Indian conditions and the players games.
India boasts of one of the best batting lne-up in the tournament. It boasts of stalwarts like Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni, Rohit and Jadeja. Ravindra Jadeja will be extremely important to India winning the tournament. Jadeja is the most improved player in the past year in the limited formats of the game. Jadeja is the fastest man on field and the best spinner at present. If he does justice to his batting instincts, he will do India a world of good. India had an all-rounder in 2007 by the name of Irfan Pathan. He is not around this time. But we do have a Stuart Binny who is as good as anyone in this format. Dhoni should make good use of him. He can be a good batsman down the middle order with his lusty hitting and can bowl well, even though not like his dad Roger! Ravichndran Ashwin is an important part in this team. He will contribute as a bowler who can bat a bit. Favourable conditions in Bangladesh make him an un-avoidable element. We have our fast bowlers – Shami, Aaron and Bhuvi. Dhoni will have a selection headache to choose two among them. Bowling lacks firepower, but with the conditions favouring Indian spinners it does not become that bad. Hope is the best thing fans can have, the players should have it and perform their best.
Possible XI : Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron.
