India has not won the T20 World Cup since MS Dhoni lifted the title in 2007 in South Africa. From the 2009 edition onwards, the Men in Blue have gone into the mega events as one of the top favorites. They are once again the favorites to win in the outright T20 World Cup betting odds, but they have not been able to win a trophy. In 2014, they lost to Sri Lanka in the final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
In 2016 and 2022, they made it to the semi-finals but lost to the West Indies and England, respectively. This time around, Rohit Sharma is their skipper, and he wants to guide India to their second title, although the task would not be easy by any stretch of the imagination.
India earlier named their squad when the Indian Premier League (IPL) was going on. India are first scheduled to play against Bangladesh in their only warm-up match on Saturday, June 1.
They are placed in Group A along with Canada, USA, Pakistan, and Ireland. Their opening game is against Paul Stirling’s Ireland on Wednesday, June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.
4 days later at the same venue, Rohit’s men would be up against Babar Azam and Co. India’s matches against the USA and Canada are on June 12 and 15 respectively.
Impressive Batting
India have a strong batting unit without a shred of a doubt. There is a doubt on who between Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal should open the batting with skipper Rohit. Virat recently won the Orange Cap in the IPL, having scored over 700 runs. Jaiswal did not score enough runs, but given his quality, he should not take much time to hit his straps.
Rohit’s form has not been great of late and he would want to get amongst the runs at the earliest. Suryakumar Yadav is amongst the top T20 batters in the world and his role should hold a lot of importance. Sanju Samson had a tremendous IPL season with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) although his team failed to make it through to the playoffs.
However, there are concerns over Hardik Pandya’s form as the Indian vice-captain looked out of sorts during the IPL while playing for Mumbai Indians. Although he looked decent with the ball, overall, he could not live up to expectations. Shivam Dube has garnered a lot of praise for his ability to take on the spinners.
Rishabh Pant has made his comeback to the national setup after last donning the India on the tour of Bangladesh back in 2022. Ravindra Jadeja is also an asset for the Indian team lower down the order. Rinku Singh could not make the XI and he was included in the reserves along with Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed.
Indifferent Pace Attack
India’s pace attack looks a little thin. Jasprit Bumrah has been in jaw-dropping for after his stupendous showing for MI in the IPL. The pacer finished among the leading wickets-takers and had an economy rate of under 7, which was incredible, bearing in mind that scores of even above 250 were not being considered safe because of batting-friendly conditions.
Apart from Bumrah, India only have Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh in their pace department. Siraj bowled well in patches during the IPL while playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), but failed to chip in with breakthroughs on a regular basis. Arshdeep was not up to the mark either after he leaked a lot of runs for Punjab Kings (PBKS). Hardik has blown hot and cold as well. If Bumrah goes out of form, India could find themselves in a lot of trouble with their pace bowlers.
Strong Spinners
India’s spin-attack is a strong one. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are the bowling options for Rohit’s men in the tournament. Among them, it is highly unlikely that Kuldeep and Chahal would play together since both of them do not add to India’s batting depth.
Chahal recently became the first bowler in the history of the IPL to pick up 300 wickets and the landmark should keep him in a positive frame of mind. Chahal has not had luck going his way in T20 World Cups and he would be desperate to make a mark.
Kuldeep, on the other hand, is the fastest Indian bowler to pick up 50 wickets in T20Is and that shows how effective he has been with the ball for the national team. In 35 T20Is until now, the left-arm wrist spinner has taken 59 wickets with 1 four-wicket haul and 2 five-wicket hauls to his name.
Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are known for their accuracy and would be needed to keep a check on the batters in the middle overs.
Players to Watch Out For
Virat Kohli is one of their cricketers to watch out for as he is the all-time leading run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cup. He is also one of the 2 cricketers to have scored over 1000 runs in the mega event along with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene.
Jasprit Bumrah is another player who will be in focus. Bumrah is a kind of bowler who mostly takes the pitch out of the equation with his accurate bowling. If he gets into his groove, it would be tough for batters to counter him.
Suryakumar Yadav is the No.1 batter in T20Is. In 60 T20Is, Suryakumar has scored 2141 runs with 4 centuries to his name and he needs to play a big part for the Indian team in the tournament.
Prediction
India have mostly gone on to play in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition back in 2007. Hence, it should not be surprising if they make their way at least through the semis.
It is only in the knockout stages where they have faced troubles. Given the quality they have in their lineup, they should advance to the semis but the challenge lies from there on. On the best betting sites in India, you can bet on India to make it to the semi-finals, final or win outright, but the odds are short with the best price at 4.33 with Parimatch.
Rohit, a dedicated cricket enthusiast renowned for his keen statistical insights, has a professional background spanning over six years in the field. His expertise has been widely recognized through his contributions as a freelance writer, with his work featured in esteemed publications such as Wisden, Cricbuzz, The Independent, The Cricketer, The Hindu, Mumbai Mirror, The Quint, News18, Firstpost, and Sportskeeda.