India has the talent to defend T20 World Cup

India’s Twenty20 men in blue team has dished out many electrifying displays in recent times, are in red-hot form, and hence seen as the firm favourite to win the title in the first week of March. But the million-dollar question that weighs upon the partisan, and the not so is, "Will India become the first country to defend the title it won in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29, 2024."

Images of the spectacular catch converted by Suryakumar Yadav beyond the straight boundary line to eject danger man David Miller from the middle, when South Africa was within striking distance of the winning target, come back…. the same Yadav is at the helm of the Indian team – without the stalwarts that took the field some twenty months ago in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja --- and the buccaneer-like batter raised in the Mumbai maidans to play tough cricket will face the most challenging phase of his career. Not in the Test and one-day international mix of the national team, Yadav is 35 and must be keen and eager to get a big ICC title under his belt, which in the event of happening will extend his career.

Yadav has a team - picked by the national selectors and the team management in which Head Coach Gautam Gambhir - that was given opportunities after the previous edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The outright fan and critique of Indian cricket cannot point finger at the selectors on any count, although for the sake of a quarrel, supporters of orthodox leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi may have a point to say that his 28 scalps in 20 matches - since the last final in Bridgetown - should have warranted his selection.

But when you have a wrist spinner of the "chinaman variety" in Kuldeep Yadav with 25 wickets in thirteen games, the scales per force has to tilt in the latter's favour. The spin-department has delivered the goods and it is in great shape with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty leading from the front with 57 wickets in 30 matches.Chakravarthy has managed to concede under eight runs an over which has been his hallmark.

Then left arm spinner Axar Patel - who fits in as an allrounder - has 28 wickets in 27 matches and Washington Sundar the off-spinner allrounder has 17 wickets in 15 matches conceding 5.79 an over, the most economical among the spinners. Sundar will be part of the team; the team management is confident that he will be fit as a fiddle for the big games of the Super 8.

Yadav will try to get his spinners to bowl twelve overs together (the maximum of four overs in a match) with the other eight from the pacers in Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube. Clearly Yadav has options to choose from even if something goes awry during a match.

In the batting department everybody has picked himself on performance with Yadav returning to form in the five match series against New Zealand. Yadav has scored 693 runs in 34 innings (37 matches) with five x 50s, not great numbers when juxtaposed with Abhishek Sharna's 1297 as an opener in 37 innings (38 matches) and Tilak Varma's 847 runs in 22 innings. Sharma is in fact the highest run getter from among the group of full member nations.

Sanju Samson who has been the primary wicket keeper in 30 matches has made 698 runs. India tried five keepers post the last final and the selectors have gone for Samson and Ishan Kishan who has staged a remarkable comeback making 215 runs in four matches. It has to be seen how the team fits in Kishan - as a middle order or keeper- batter ? It will be interesting to read the team sheet for the opening match against the USA on Saturday (February 7).

Where India derived its depth and strength is from the gifts Pandya, Dube and Patel bring in. It's their explosive style and the top and middle order's go after bowling ways of batting that has given the Indian team a 9.34 an over average (10.17 at home) which means the team is capable of consistently posting 190 plus totals. Australia has an average of 8.93, England 9.09, Pakistan 7.76, South Africa 8.34 and New Zealand 8.64.

Another interesting statistics that has made India a formidable batting side is the assorted sixth wicket partnerships contributing nearly 36 percent to the India totals. The first wicket with four different pairs have averaged nearly 33 percent to the team total with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal (both not in the team) touching a high of 37.54, the second wicket contributing 40.03 per cent, the third wicket making up for nearly 39 percent, the fourth wicket contributing 41.57 per cent and the fifth wicket 23.54 percent. In home conditions the third wicket pairs have contributed 48.44 percent, the fourth wicket a high of 57.42 percent and the sixth wicket nearly 37 percent.

In the only warm up match that India played against South Africa, India tried out Sharma and Kishan as openers and the latter's bombardment (20 ball 53 with 7 x 6s) has sustained the debate as to who will open the innings in the group stage.

Surely the team management will look at the main batters involved in building partnerships. Sharma tops the list with 1086 runs (55.16 % of the partnerships he has been involved), Pandya (55.33 %), Samson (nearly 47 %) and Dube (57 %). Twenty20 cricket is all about numbers and India's batters have given it a dynamic dimension.

The format of the tournament should make India's entry into a Super 8 stage easy with wins expected against USA, Namibia, Netherlands and probably two points from Pakistan which has chosen to forfeit its match against India at Colombo. The Super 8 matches will be played at Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata and the rivals are expected to be South Africa, Australia and the West Indies.

India has played 41 matches after the previous edition and won 33 for a high winning percentage of 80.16; at home it has played 17 and won fourteen for a 82.35 winning percentage. South Africa, England and New Zealand are the three teams that have won one match each in India. Yadav has led India in 36 matches after the 2024 final and won 29. The numbers favour him, but as he himself said his team has to play its "A" game every match.