In T20 cricket, team India underachieved after the victory in 2007 T-20 World Cup.
After the 2019 World Cup, the major ICC tournament is T-20 World Cup on October 2020 in Australia. Every team’s focus is only on the next T-20 World Cup. Currently, India is playing a home T-20 series against Bangladesh. India equals the T-20 series with a win in Rajkot. Currently, India is at No.5 in the T20I rankings by ICC which is not a good number.
After the victory in the first T-20 World Cup, India underachieved in this format.
In 2019, India’s win percentage in T20 cricket is 45.45%, which is not good. This year, India has won only one match in T-20 cricket, while batting first. Indian batsmen are facing difficulty to set the winning target. Current, Bangladesh series is the example of this that India is struggling to set the good target. In chasing, India has no problem.
Since 2016, India is playing a dominating cricket in Test and ODI formats but in T-20 India is not performing good. It is a big question that why India underperforming in T20I cricket as compared to ODI and Test cricket.
Is India the biggest contender for 2020 T-20 World Cup?
After seeing the recent performances by the Indian team in T20I cricket, India is not the biggest contender for the next T-20 World Cup. Since 2018, India has played 30 T20Is, in which they won 19 matches. India’s win percentage in T20I is 63.33%, which is not impressive. Other teams like – Australia, England, New Zealand are performing better than India.
What’s going wrong with India in T20I cricket?
1. Unsettled or inexperience middle-order: Since March 2016, India is missing the solid middle-order batsmen like – Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni in T-20 cricket. Currently, India doesn’t have solid middle-order batsmen who can rotate the strike and also able to hit the ball out of the ground. Currently, India is playing with Pant, KL Rahul, Iyer in middle-order. These all are top-order batsmen in first-class cricket but in the national team, they are playing in the middle-order.
2. Extra pressure on openers: In T20I cricket, India’s top-order batsmen (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli) play without freedom in first innings. Top-order batsmen have a fear of failure in their mind because of inexperience or unsettled middle-order. While setting the target, top-order trying to settle on the crease in first-ten overs and because of this they play so many dot balls.
3. Dot Ball Percentage: Since 2018, India lost the art of setting targets. India is very good at chasing but; failed when they bat first in T20I cricket. The major reason behind this is the dot ball percentage. Indian batsmen play more dot balls in the first inning as compared to the second inning because top-order batsmen have a fear of failure in their mind.
Team management and selectors are in the wrong direction
Recent results and flaws in India’s T20 cricket team show that the Indian selectors and team management are in a wrong direction. A Few months ago, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri said that they want the depth in their batting line-up for T-20. Indian selectors are focusing on all-rounders.
The major problem that India is facing in T-20 cricket is not all-rounders, it is middle-order batting. Selectors should focus more on that how to set the middle-order in T-20 cricket. Otherwise, India will face the same problem that they face in the 2019 World Cup. India should seek out the problem of middle-order as soon as possible so that they can improve their T20I record.
