A pair of set opening batsmen, a suitable replacement for veteran Ashish Nehra and of course, finding a good all-rounder are major concerns for skipper Dhoni, writes Aakash Chopra
Is India a good T20 team? To answer this question we must know what makes a good T20 team. The first six overs of the powerplay are important from both a bowling and batting perspective. While batting first, you set the platform for a big total in the powerplay overs and while chasing, you try to break the back of the chase by exploiting the field restrictions. From a bowling perspective, if you take two or more wickets, you inflict serious damage to the opposition's hope of posting a big total. The history of T20 cricket informs us that if teams lose more than two wickets in the first six overs, they end up on the losing side more often than not.
Amit Mishra (third from right) celebrates the fall of WI's Evin Lewis with teammates on Sunday. Pic/AP, PTI
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It's not about how you start but how you end, and that's where we need to fast forward to the death overs. The last five overs are as important (if not more) as the first six. Since the format is so short, the game is seldom decided before a serious scuffle in the last few overs. For that very reason, batsmen who can use the long handle effectively in the death overs rake in big moolah in franchise cricket. Finding the block-hole, varying pace and outwitting the batsmen in the last few overs is an art mastered by only a few.
Too much pressure on Rohit
Now that we've identified the critical phases of a T20 game, let's address the question that I asked at the top. To know where India stands in the shortest format, we must look at our resources for the crucial phases of a T20 game. Starting with the two openers, India has toyed with two opening pairs in the last 10 months. Either Dhawan or Rahane has partnered Rohit at the top. Dhawan is an explosive and effective ODI player but somehow, he hasn't managed similar returns in the shortest format.
Initially, he was too slow off the blocks in international T20s and that had put too much pressure on Rohit. He did try to address this concern earlier this year but unfortunately it worked for only a little while. Like Dhawan, Rahane also puts pressure on Rohit to maximise the powerplay overs. This formula works well in ODI but in high-scoring T20 games, you need to fire from both ends. This is one box that the current Indian team isn't ticking.
Yusuf Pathan
As regards to the bowling, Shami-Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah have done a decent job but no one has consistently given early breakthroughs, and that puts a lot of pressure on Indian spinners to pull things back. As far as the powerplay overs are concerned, Indian team lacks a punch.
In the middle overs, the spinners have almost always managed to restore sanity. Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra not only provide a couple of breakthroughs but also keep the scoring rate in check. In fact, whenever Ashwin has taken two or more wickets, India wins 80 per cent T20 games. While Indian spin-bowling depth is better than most teams in the world, their impact on the outcome isn't as telling.
Dhoni not on song
The moment we get into the death overs, we start focusing less on the consistency and more on power-hitting. Since Kohli and Rohit tend to bat deep into the innings quite often, they mask the lack of hitting abilities towards the end. The only Indian in the lower order who comes close to matching the brute strength of Russell and Pollard is MS Dhoni, but lately he hasn't been striking as big or as often as he used to. Yuvraj and Raina used to play this role to perfection but their absence has left a void.
Perhaps, it's time to go back to Yusuf Pathan or find another hitter. As for the bowling, the arrival of Bumrah has raised the stocks somewhat, for he's been able to bowl yorkers at will. Nehra also did a commendable job till the World T20 but it's about time that India finds his able replacement.
Find an all-rounder
One glaring issue that needs to be addressed before anything else is to find a decent all-rounder. Since none of the top six for India bowl, the ideal combination leaves the captain with only five bowling options, and it's a given that one or two bowlers will have off days. But in order to play an extra bowler, Dhoni had to sacrifice a batsman. It worked alright in the second T20, but can't be a long term solution. The sooner India unearths an all-rounder, the better or else they will be falling behind the curve in cricket's most popular format.
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