Rain is proving to be a deterrent as far as the teams from the Indian subcontinent playing in the T20 World Cup are concerned. But, for India, it should not be a problem at all, as their players got a well-deserved rest ahead of the Super Eight stage of the competition. Qualification assured, this washout against Canada in Florida turned out to be far better than what might have been 40 overs of toil.
How do they look? Have they ticked enough boxes? Are all resources firing according to expectations? The answer will most probably be ‘no’ when it comes to all the questions. But, and it’s a crucial ‘but’, they are showing signs that they can get there. The three wins in the USA on pitches not conducive for batting were proof enough that they are on the right track.
What will happen after this, if one has to predict, will be a tricky thing to do. Most likely, India’s opponents in the Super Eight stage to be played in the West Indies will be Afghanistan, Australia and Bangladesh. This team should feel really confident going ahead to those fixtures. They are not perfect, but they are in the process of getting things right.
The batting unit, if one has to go by the numbers of runs made by the specialist batters especially in the top order, can be labelled a failure so far. Your most famous incumbents of the first few slots have contributed little strictly in terms of runs. But they have got the job done. It doesn’t matter by how many you win as long as you win.
The biggest source of confidence has to be the bowling unit. Jasprit Bumrah, on his day, is impossible to face. Anybody who has played school cricket will understand how difficult it is to put bat on what he hurls, forget making a good connection. And he is at his best. Plus, India also have Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Siraj and Hardik Pandya chipping in. The spinners are bound to become more effective on the pitches of the Caribbean. This is a serious attack.
The other encouraging factor from the Indian point of view is the batters who had not played a lot of international cricket in the recent past. Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube — they have all contributed. One can say that Yashasvi Jaiswal deserved a chance, but this can be discussed later. A team that wins three out of three shouldn’t be faulted for inadequate batting.
India will mount a serious challenge in the business end of this competition. Potentially and performance-wise, they have enough resources. Of course, it can’t be predicted in a T20 tournament on who you must put money. But if you have some to spare, put some on this Indian team.
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