Uncle Ben was right in pointing out that with great power comes great responsibility. But as India await T20 World Cup, they have learnt that alongside responsibility, great power also brings a greater need to maintain it. You continuously need to be on the lookout for flaws, even when you’re doing everything seemingly right.
India already have the T20 World Cup. They lifted the Champions Trophy last year and followed it up with winning the Asia Cup. They have also only lost six of their 51 T20I matches since the start of 2024. Where do they even look for mistakes?
This does make India’s problems first-world when compared to others. They have what some would call a good kind of headache. But good or bad, a headache is a headache. It tires you down. It makes it difficult to focus. And it limits you from doing your best.
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India can’t afford to fall short of their best. Wouldn’t it be a shame if they failed to defend a T20 World Cup like only every winner has so far? That’s probably why they decided to backtrack on decisions that felt fail-prone even in the slightest, even if that meant dropping Shubman Gill, their vice captain and a certain opener.
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Gill was the casualty of what Ajit Agarkar kept calling ‘combination’ in the press conference. And if Gill didn’t fit in the Playing XI, Jitesh Sharma going out as collateral was a surprise to no one. After all, Sharma was a part of the team in the first place because India needed a wicketkeeper who could slot in the middle order so Gill could open.
But India realised they did not need Gill to occupy (technically) two spots, and so they brought in a hybrid of both, Sanju Samson. While he is injury-prone and at times bad form-prone as well, that’s nothing a good alternative can’t solve. The good alternative for them was Ishan Kishan, who has not played for the national side in the past two years.
Kishan vs Samson vs Varma
Kishan had a terrific stint with Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored at an average of 57.44 while striking at 197. And that was before he fired against New Zealand in the absence of Tilak Varma, while nudging the selectors to consider him more than just an alternative.
With Samson not doing nearly enough with the chances, albeit few, he has got so far, even when Tilak returns, Kishan might not remain as indispensable. And thats where India’s extensive planning comes into play. If they decide to do away with Samson, for whatever reason, at whichever point, they would not have to upend the entire team. Instead, they’ll bring in Kishan to open with Abhishek Sharma, Tilak at the first drop, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, all three of whom would not be disturbed from their normal positions.
Moving away from makeshift middle-order batters
This also leaves them with plenty of spots for all-rounders. In the Asia Cup, India couldn’t make much use of Rinku Singh as a finisher and had to make do with out-of-place Tilak and Samson in the middle order. Rinku’s career strike rate of 162 is too good to deprive him of the role.
What’s more is that he can slot in at any of the middle-order spots to adjust his entry point according to the match situation, with Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya the first choice to share the work. In this way, Axar Patel, who already has vice-captain duties (what are they, by the way?), gets a respite from taking on a more serious all-rounder role.
India choose template over personnel
India have been experimenting a lot with their bowling lineup in the New Zealand series. They have given Harshit Ran a go, and they have also tested Kuldeep Yadav. One thing that they have stuck with, amid all these changes, is the template. India have preferred to go with two specialist pacers and as many spinners, save the 4th T20I where they included an extra fast bowler.
Should they look to stick with this 2-2 template in the World Cup, they wouldn’t really be much mistaken.
India await T20 World Cup glory
India are operating in a different bracket than most teams they will and won’t face in the World Cup. They aren’t quite the final boss yet, but they are on the right track to become one, at least in T20Is. They have thought through each spot in their squad, perhaps overthought, in fact. And does anything ever go wrong when you do that?
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