No team has ever defended a T20 World Cup crown. No team has ever won a T20 World Cup at home. No team has won the T20 silverware at home. But Team India can check all three boxes in a couple of days. Suryakumar Yadav’s team stands on the cusp of history.
Before the T20 World Cup began, bookmakers were all in for India. They were ruthless, perhaps the greatest T20I side ever assembled. Even the great West Indies unit had some holes. But this Indian team, at least from the outside, had no frailties. They had a W/L ratio of over 5 in this T20 World Cup cycle. The next best team didn’t even have 2.5. The difference was huge. But to be honest, India haven’t played with that authority at this T20 World Cup.
Imperfect T20 World Cup for India
They started the tournament in the worst possible fashion, stumbling to 77/6. Had Suryakumar Yadav not dished out his best T20 knock, things could’ve been far worse against the USA. Then, at a small Arun Jaitley Stadium against Namibia, the batting unit suffered two mini collapses in a short span. The Namibian spinners started to put needles in India’s worry against spin as they lost 4 for 20 before losing five wickets for four runs at death.
Then came the big Pakistan game. Travelling to Colombo, the game had question marks before it began. But thankfully for India, Pakistan players didn’t have it in them to soak up the pressure. Ishan Kishan’s blitzkrieg on a difficult surface was an outlier. He basically handed an advantage to India by smoking 77 off 40. But the fact that India struggled against Usman Tariq and part-timer Salman Ali Agha gave away something.
Something that the Netherlands’ Aryan Dutt also exposed as Abhishek Sharma recorded his third consecutive duck. Then in the Super Eights, India endured their first ICC defeat after 826 days. Playing against a well-oiled side for the first time, India faltered big time. A loss that sunk India’s hearts so much that they needed the Proteas to win all their games in order to keep fate for qualifying in their own hands.
It was an imperfect T20 World Cup throughout. The fielding was abysmal. The bowling wasn’t at the point always. Varun Chakaravarthy, being found out, took India out of proportion. Not to mention the iffy top-order (until Sanju Samson arrived).
India vs England is exactly what Men in Blue needed
But there you have it. Despite all the mistakes, India have made it to the summit clash. It’s not a surprise. It is not undeserving. It just shows the sheer talent of the Indian players. They haven’t dished out a perfect game. But the floor of this team is way above other sides. In some cases, India performing at even 60% of their potential can be enough sometimes.
In one game or the other, one Indian star has raised his hand. Whether it may be Ishan Kishan against Pakistan, Shivam Dube against the Dutch or Sanju Samson against the West Indies. But the semi-final bout against England have done wonders for the team. It wasn’t a near-perfect game but a perfect match to see most of the players perform their tasks at an optimal level.
Barring Abhishek Sharma, all other ten men did their job superbly. If Sanju Samson’s 89 set the stage up, innings from Kishan, Dube and Pandya shouldn’t be forgotten. Tilak Varma’s 7-ball 21 was incredible too. Arshdeep Singh was great at death, while Axar Patel was India’s MVP just by his otherworldly fielding efforts. His catch, where he ran back and dived to his front to dismiss Harry Brook, may end up being the catch of the tournament.
Then there’s Jasprit Bumrah, who has blessed India just by taking birth in this country. No other bowler in the history of the game has a better bowling average than his 20.62 (min. 500 wickets). Let that sink in. Against England, he was the main point of difference, even if I have mentioned all the other players above. England perhaps batted better than India but they lost because they didn’t have Bumrah, who leaked runs at 8.2 in a game where the average economy was 12.4.
T20 World Cup final may be formality now
Fans may troll the Narendra Modi Stadium. But the truth be told, South Africa and Australia (2023 ODI WC) came out with tremendous plans to negate India in those crunch games. New Zealand, from the outside, may be deemed a perfect team to outmanoeuvre India in terms of planning.
However, truth be told, New Zealand haven’t played mind-blowing cricket in this T20 World Cup at all. Mitchell Santner’s captaincy has been questionable somewhat, while the Kiwis don’t have Gary Stead anymore, who took New Zealand to incredible highs in his 7-year period.
The main weapons for New Zealand are their openers, one of which is also nominated for POTT award. Finn Allen is coming on the back of a dreamy 33-ball century against the Proteas. Tim Seifert is having a ball up top as well. But if India manage to make inroads early, this New Zealand lineup can be contained.
Allen is a high-variance player too. In the 60 innings he has batted for New Zealand, only once has Allen hit consecutive 50+ scores. So, the odds are less for him to manhandle another superb bowling unit.
To be fair, India are incredible across all fronts when compared to New Zealand. The Kiwis don’t have an outlandish bowling unit as well. If Matt Henry fails with the new ball, who will take wickets for them? Take into account their recent 4-1 T20I series loss to India. New Zealand leaked runs at 12.35 in that rubber, the most expensive they ever bowled in a series/tournament. The next worst for them was 10.05, which looks much better than leaking 247 runs on average for a run of five games.
Good for India that New Zealand kicked out South Africa in the first semi-final. Now, the avengers for India need to take care of the New Zealand time, who have lost all their last 5 white-ball ICC finals.
Cricket
All eyes on Narendra Modi Stadium pitch as India play another World Cup final in Ahmedabad
