ICC World Twenty20: Why India is the team to beat
Unbeaten in the group stage, India are in stunning form in the ICC World Twenty20. The rout of Australia on Sunday proved that India's spinners are in magical form.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: April 01, 2014 01:09 AM IST
Barely three weeks ago, Team India was struggling with inconsistent performances. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and company have returned to winning ways in style. There's no doubt that the conditions in Bangladesh are helping the Men in Blue, but that's not the only reason why they are the only undefeated team in the ICC World Twenty20. (Ashwin has best figures by an Indian in T20Is)
The biggest weapon has been the spinners. Dhoni has played three spinners in all four group stage matches and they have bowled to immaculate plans. Between Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, the spinners have taken 21 wickets between them, or roughly 77 per cent. Mishra and Ashwin have picked up all four Man-of-the-Match awards between them. (Yuvraj Singh first Indian to post 8 fifties in T20Is)
If one looks at the top wicket-takers in the super 10-stage of the tournament, four of the top five are spinners. Indians, South Africans and West Indians have delivered standout performances. For Mishra leads the charts with nine wickets followed by Ashwin (7) and Jadeja (5). (India trounce Australia by 73 runs)
It's been a spinners' tournament. West Indian, South African and Pakistan spinners too have made an impact with 13, 12 and 10 wickets, respectively. Not surprisingly the Aussie and South African pacers have done better than their spinners. The only exception amongst sub-continental teams is Sri Lanka, whose pacers have outshone the spinners. Lasith Malinga has been again outstanding. (Why Mishra breathes life into Indian bowling)
With the bowling clicking, the batsmen have not been put under too much pressure. India chased in three of the four matches and the maximum they had to get was 139. But despite the small targets, the consistency displayed by the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli has been commendable. The two have scored two fifties each.But even when they didn't score big, India managed a par score versus Australia. The experience of Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni came to the rescue with a crucial 84-run stand on Sunday night.
Dhoni is happy with the middle order showing. "Now that the whole middle order has been tested, I have one less question to answer in the press conference," a grinning Indian captain said on Sunday.
One factor that hasn't been highlighted too much is Dhoni's captaincy. His bowling changes have all worked and the success seems to have brought out the hands on approach that was considered to be the skipper's USP from when he started captaining.
According to the Indian captain: "In 2007, I felt T20 was taken more in a joking way. Ok have fun you know they used to mic up players talk to them...Now it's more intense. You don't see people enjoying it, they want to win, they try to play shots that nobody has heard (seen) so far... so it has changed a lot and I have changed a lot too."
The change that the fans are celebrating is that of the team returning to winning ways. And you would have to be very brave to bet against India becoming the first team to win the World Twenty20 twice.