Sports Indians primed to wear the crown

[urpussysucker]

Indians primed to wear the crown
India couldn’t have asked for a better preparation for the World Twenty20 which is happening in their backyard for the first time since its inception in 2007.

In the inaugural edition, the MS Dhoni-led young side was given no more than an outside chance to land the riches. Dhoni and his young brigade travelled to South Africa without much expectation but returned home to ecstatic welcome by thousands of fans after beating Pakistan in a nail-biting final.

Since that triumph, however, India have struggled to do an encore. Their performances since then have oscillated between patchy and inspiring. After failing to make the knockouts in three successive events, India eventually broke the hoodoo in 2014 when they stormed into the summit clash with an all-win record. Dhoni’s men were the overwhelming favourites to win the clash and become the first team to claim the title for the second time. But an unexpected batting implosion against Sri Lanka put paid to their hopes.

Two years after that heart-break, India go into the biennial tournament as firm favourites. And this widely accepted belief across teams is not just because India are playing at home, where they are a formidable force, but also because they have, over a period of two months or so, displayed the kind of consistency which is seldom associated with them in the sprint format of the game.

India have won an impressive 10 matches out of the 11 they have played since the tour of Australia. While India hammered the Aussies 3-0 in Australia, they overcame a setback in the Pune match to beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in the three-match bilateral series. The Indians capped off their preparations by emerging champions in the Asia Cup (played in T20 format) with an all-win record.

The present Indian squad has managed to strike the right balance with the arrival of some exciting youngsters and the return of a few veterans. The batting -- with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the pink of their form – is obviously their greatest strength but the attack has made impressive strides since the Australian tour.

Paceman Jasprit Bumrah has undoubtedly been the find of season while seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been impressive. Explosive batting is Pandya’s USP but the Baroda player has shown he can chip in with two-three good overs as well. With the return of Mohammad Shami, India have multiple options in pace unit along with Ashish Nehra but it’s the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who will have to be on top of their game in conditions that suit their styles.

Besides favourable conditions, India will have the crowd support that can, at times, be unnerving for the opponents. Whether they live up to expectations or buckle under the weight of those hopes remains to be seen.

India factfile

* Best performance: Champions (2007)

* Overall performance: Played: 28; Won: 19; Lost: 9

* Form guide (most recent last): W, W, W, W, W

* ICC ranking: 1

* The squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi.

* Fixtures: Mar 15: vs New Zealand; Mar 19: vs Pakistan; Mar 23: vs Qualifier; Mar 27: vs Australia.