Combination conundrum poses threat to India T20 squad

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 oppositions 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 notAmit Mishra third from right celebrates the fall of WIs Evin Lewis with teammates on Sunday PicAP PTIIts not about how you start but how you end and thats 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 blockhole varying pace and outwitting the batsmen in the last few overs is an art mastered by only a fewToo much pressure on RohitNow that weve identified the critical phases of a T20 game lets 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 hasnt managed similar returns in the shortest formatInitially 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 highscoring T20 games you need to fire from both ends This is one box that the current Indian team isnt tickingYusuf PathanAs regards to the bowling ShamiBhuvneshwar 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 punchIn 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 spinbowling depth is better than most teams in the world their impact on the outcome isnt as tellingDhoni not on songThe moment we get into the death overs we start focusing less on the consistency and more on powerhitting 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 hasnt 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 voidPerhaps its 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 hes been able to bowl yorkers at will Nehra also did a commendable job till the World T20 but its about time that India finds his able replacementFind an allrounderOne glaring issue that needs to be addressed before anything else is to find a decent allrounder Since none of the top six for India bowl the ideal combination leaves the captain with only five bowling options and its 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 cant be a long term solution The sooner India unearths an allrounder the better or else they will be falling behind the curve in crickets most popular format