Despite the loss of the 2023 ODI World Cup final, followed by the talks related to a lack of bowling options and strike rates, Team India is still heading into the T20 World Cup tournament with the most series wins and great performances under their kitty.
India will begin their world cup campaign, on June 5 with their first match against Ireland in Newyork’s Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Let’s analyze the men in blue’s current form and statistics, since T20 2022 WC semifinal loss against England, ahead of T20 world cup on June 1.
In a three-match T20I series, India managed to win the rain-affected series against New Zealand under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy by 1-0.
During that match, Suryakumar Yadav played a knock of 111* in 51 balls in second day of the series.
While bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj respectively completed four wickets in the third day of the series.
Later, repeating their success in T20 format, India won the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in their home turf by 2-1.
Here again, Suryakumar Yadav performed exceptionally well, by playing the knock of 112* in 51 balls in series third day.
Axar Patel also gave its best all-rounder performance in this series.
Despite starting the series with a loss, India managed to win another T20 series against New Zealand by 2-1.
The major highlight of this series was Shubham Gill’s fine knock of 126 in 63 balls, which was Gill’s first T20 century in third day of the series.
Which was followed by the exceptional performance Indian bowlers, who packed NZ off 66, while pursuing the 235-run target. Hardik Pandya in this series, also completed its four-wicket haul.
However, this was the only series, where India lost the series. Despite predicting India’s win, west Indies in this series, performed really well in what was considered a tight contest. Thus, winning the fifth and the decider series.
But this series, also witnessed the rise of Tilak Verma, who played with maturity beyond its age and became India’s top scorer making 173 runs in five matches at an average of 57.67, with a half-century.
Despite being fresh from its loss against Australia in their world cup finals, India hands-on won the series 4-1, without the presence of the main players.
Youngsters like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, skipper Suryakumar Yadav etc, gave their exceptional performance in this series.
The major highlight of the match was Gaikwad making a century and fifty in a five-match series. While spinners like Ravi Bishnoi (9 wickets) and Axar Patel (6 wickets) also gave a great performance.
Under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, the series came to an end with a draw, as one match got cancelled due to rain.
But nonetheless, players like Rinku Singh, Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav displayed good performance in this series.
Meanwhile, looking at main players’ performances, both Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are in great form, as recently in IPL, the former respectively made 741 runs in 15 games, while the latter took 20 wickets in 13 matches.
But poor form of Hardik Pandya continues to haunt the team, as he has made 216 runs and has taken 11 wickets in 14 games at IPL.
Skipper Rohit Sharma too has displayed disappointing strike rate, which is just 127.84 against spin in IPL 2024. Besides, his performance this IPL, at best been inconsistent.
As for the bowling department, bowlers like Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj are prone to inconsistent performance despite good performance displayed by them in IPL.
Despite proving as a consistent finisher, Rinku Singh is still not at the 15-member squad.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
