So the democratization of cricket has finally been achieved in this T20 World Cup. The T20 format has given us this opportunity to make cricket a true international game, not an eight-country ‘feudalistic monopoly’ anymore. This world cup was a perfect example of how the gaps between established teams and emerging teams have narrowed down.
Almost all the matches between the so-called ‘David vs Goliath’ were close affairs. Though the minnows could not qualify for the semis, the way teams like Ireland, Netherlands, and Afghanistan played and ousted big teams, there was not a boring one-sided game in this ongoing T20 World Cup unlike previous editions.
Ireland surprised England, Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan and Netherlands ousted South Africa in the group stages before ousting the West Indies in the qualifying rounds. The tournament so far proved that in T20 cricket there is no pushovers anymore. So the differences between the teams will be far less in the coming days. This World Cup ensured that we will have a more ‘socialist’ world of cricket in the coming days.
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It was a tough tournament for two title contenders– Australia, the host nation and winner of the last T20 World Cup, and South Africa. But the fact that all the teams lost a match or so going into the semifinals where Pakistan face New Zealand while India are up against a spirited England side. So we have not a single team which is unbeaten in this tournament.
Now, let us come to the performance of India. Though the results show India’s dominance so far except for a match against South Africa, they still have a lot of gaps to fill in the last two knock-out matches. On paper, this team may look good but they don’t generate much of confidence to win the Cup.
Though the batting looks stable and solid, but it were Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli who pulled India out of most of the matches so far. To be very precise it was Surya’s super-heroic deeds with the bat that kept India’s batting afloat in the middle order. The forms of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik have been a cause of concerns. Though Rishabh Pant was given a chance in the last group match against Zimbabwe in place of Dinesh Karthik, he could not perform well, holing out in the boundary line after playing a big shot too early. But given a choice, he should still be preferred in the semis over Karthik as Pant has a very good records in the Australian conditions.
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Despite bowling well against Zimbabwe, India’s bowling will definitely be tested against England on the flat batting track and smaller ground of Adelaide. Though India bowled well in a little bit better bowling conditions of Melbourne and Perth, their performance on the flatter Adelaide pitch against Bangladesh will give Rohit Sharma a sleepless night going into the semi-final against the big hitting English batters. It’s true that Apart from Shami and Arshdeep Singh, no bowler looked good in that game against Bangladesh. The death bowling on the flat track against a quality batting side will definitely be a concern when they take on England. Apart from bowling, the ageing Indian side is not the best fielding side which can hurt them in the hard-fought tight games in the knock-out stage.
Though both the spinners bowled well against Zimbabwe, it can be counter-productive for India in the semi-final as it can generate a pseudo confidence in Axar and Ashwin’s bowling abilities as the Zimbabwe batters are no match for their attacking English counterparts. But if India continue to persist with both Ashwin and Axar, they will bound to suffer in the next match. They will definitely need the wrist spin of Chahal in place of any of the two spinners. Any T20 bowling line-up on the good batting track needs at least an express quick pacer and a wrist spinner. The stubbornness of the team management in this respect is very baffling. In term of performance and his ability to generate bounce on the Australian pitches Chahal’s name should have been there in the playing XI but India, under coach Rahul Dravid, have always been very defensive in their approach to team selection as they are looking more at the batting abilities of the bowlers in selecting their bowling line-up. But the fact is that in T20s, the teams with the best bowling line-ups generally win you more matches.
Two back-to-back wins and any of these four teams will win the glory. It can be anybody’s game from now on. The unpredictability of the T20 format has made it very difficult to forecast anything at this stage. On their days these four semi-finalists can beat anyone. Given the volatile track records of New Zealand and Pakistan, it’s unlikely for them to win two back-to-back high-pressure matches. On the current form and the team dynamics, England look very dangerous side and my favourite to win the Cup. If India can beat them in the semis, they have a huge chance of winning the Cup as they have more experienced players in their team who can hold their nerves in the high-pressure final.
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