India Vs West Indies, Analysis of India in T20 World Cup
India aced the Group C with easy wins over Afghanistan and South Africa in the ICC World T20 in the West Indies. Here is a SWOT analysis examining the chances of India against West Indies in the Group F, which contains Sri Lanka (a team on fire), Australia (unbeaten in the last three T20 world cup matches) and West Indies (perhaps the weakest of the four).
In the first match against Australia, India was thrashed in all departments. Australia scored 184 in the allotted 20 overs while India only managed 135 with most of the top order flattering in easy dismissals. India’s net run rate is -2.45, which means they now need to win both of their next two games, first of which is being played against West Indies today. If India loses today, only a miracle would carry them to the semi final stage. Let’s examine the good, bad and the ugly of Indian T20 team.
Strengths:
India has always been well known for their batting, in the first stage that held true but against mighty Australia, India looked out of act. Virender Sehwag absent has been felt but it is evident that the side is replete of batsmen who can deliver.
At the top of the order, Gautam Gambhir will look to regain the form that had seen him top-score in the first edition of the tournament, whereas there are likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and captain MS Dhoni himself, who will want to make it count after a blow par performance in the last game.
Of course, what adds to their batting is the fact that even the lower middle order consisting of the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh can wield their bat and can make life difficult for West Indies.
Weaknesses:
The most obvious one is to do with their bowling. To some of the critics, their bowling looks a tad too inexperienced and rather brittle. The reason behind it is some rather strange selection and injury issues.
Zaheer Khan is their most experienced bowler and he may be expected to do well, but apart from him, Ashish Nehra is only just recovering from his injury and then there are likes of Praveen Kumar, who will probably struggle with the slow and low nature of the tracks in West Indies, that is if he gets to play.
Then again, the worry for the Indian side will be to do with their inability to close out the last few overs where they leak a lot of runs. Chris Gayle and the co are not going to make it easy for them in front of the home crowd.
Opportunities:
Unlike the first stage where India came through unbeaten against South Africa and Afghanistan; losing the last game against Australia in Group F stage will allow them an opportunity to not allow complacency grow deep.
Most of the Indian players have had lots of match practice playing in the IPL and since they failed against Australia, this game against West Indies will bring the best out of Dhoni and Co. Winning the toss is also going to be the key; with partially cloudy weather, if India wins the toss, they should send West Indies in to bat. Some of you may wonder why, when batting first is a huge advantage? The answer is Mr. Duckworth Lewis who saw England post 191 and lose to West Indies who just needed 60 from six overs due to the rain.
Threats:
Despite all what MS Dhoni had had to say about being totally refreshed before the start of the tournament, the fact of the matter is that the side has played almost non stop cricket in the last six months, and it is almost impossible to think they are feeling relaxed and fresh. With the IPL ending only five days before the start of the tournament, it has only become even more difficult, and when you are facing some of the top teams in the world it will remain to be seen how the players manage the issue.
Lack of rest, fatigue bundled with the team that hasn’t had time to practice together showed the results against Australia. If the team plays the same, India will be going home just like they did in the T20 world cup 2009.
Players to watch out for:
Virender Sehwag’s replacement in the side, Murali Vijay has been in the form of his life and will be the one batsman one would love to watch. Given that he has been picked as an opener, there is a good chance that he will replace Sehwag at the top of the order and may not cool his heels in the dressing room too much.
The other player that could do the job will be Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja did not play in the IPL because he was banned by the Governing Council for some contractual issues. He will look to make his place in the side count. Rohit Gurunath Sharma 23 year old all rounder was the only player to give Australia run for their money and is in good Knock to repeat his performance today.
Bookies have India favorite at odds of 1.7 to 1 to win the match; All in All when Billion people are following your every move, anything less than a win is unacceptable.
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