World T20: Time to rewrite the 'history books' for Team India
India is in an extremely precarious position just before the 'clash of the tournament' with arch-rivals Pakistan. This is not just a do-or-die battle here but also one to rewrite the World Twenty20's "whatever little" history books.
- Sumit Kapur
- Updated: September 30, 2012 12:44 PM IST
India is in an extremely precarious position just before the 'clash of the tournament' with arch-rivals Pakistan. This is not just a do-or-die battle here but also one to rewrite the World Twenty20's "whatever little" history books.
The Men in Blue have been anything but convincing in Sri Lanka and this has been the case since their World T20 title win in 2007.
Since lifting the trophy with a relatively inexperienced side at the time in 2007 ('boasted' of young Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma), India has not beaten a test team in the super eight contest.
In fact, after having played 13 ICC World T20 matches since the victory, India has registered a win in six but only two of these have come against a test side other than Bangladesh - one a group match in World T20 2010 vs South Africa and the other a dead rubber vs England in this edition of the WT20. Of the other four, two have come against Afghanistan (2010 and 2012) and one each vs Bangladesh and Ireland (both 2010).
Another disturbing fact is that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni led team has not won a single super-eight match after the 2007 World T20. In all those matches, India's top-order batting has let them down invariably. While it was Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir as the opening pair in 2009 WT20, Murali Vijay was Gambhir's 'partner in crime' in 2010. Not playing Virender Sehwag here against Australia, too backfired and Irfan Pathan, despite getting runs, does not seem a batsman in T20 mould.
Their bowling has not raised hopes either but that's never been a plus point for any Indian team.
This could be an argument that why does India always pick someone like a Piyush Chawla for the big tournaments and drop a player like Yusuf Pathan but that hardly holds significance as of now. India has much more to ponder over and worry about. It could be a lesson though.
India has lost to West Indies, England, South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka in the super-eights in the World T20 and have not played Pakistan yet in that stage of the tournament. They, though, have a perfect record against the Men in green in any World Cup and would love to maintain it.
But India have to go one better here and win both their super 8 clashes and even that will not confirm them a semi-final booking.
The Men in Blue are not renowned to play well when under the pump, especially in crucial tournaments. A prime example is their loss to Sri Lanka (after the loss to Bangladesh) in the 2007 50-over World Cup. Even the last two T20 World Cups have driven home this point. The time has come for the team to revert the process, starting with a victory against Pakistan.
India has 8 constants (players those have played in both the editions) from the 2007 World T20 win and 10 constants from the 50-over World Cup 2011. So, the boys definitely know how to win a World Cup. They just have to prove that they can do it consistently and also when they are literally facing the weather.