Five things Team India must do to make MS Dhoni smile

Isnrsquot it ironic that when India opposed the T20 format it won the inaugural World T20 tournament and later when we embraced the format and started hosting the worldrsquos most high profile T20 league the IPL we failed to replicate the 2007 heroicsWhile the world claims to have benefitted from the IPL Indian players oddly enough continue to perform below par during the T20 World Cup held every alternate year So what is it that the Indian players need to do to change their fortunes in the latest edition of the World T20 that starts in a weekAjinkya Rahane plays a pull shot against Afghanistan during the recently concluded Asia Cup PicAFPRead onhellip1 Wickets in firstsix oversTaking wickets in the first six overs is the key to Indiarsquos success in the World T20 In fact if a team loses more than two wickets in the first six it goes on to lose the match more often than not Thatrsquos where someone like Bhuvneshwar Kumar is critical for Indiarsquos chances for hersquos the only Indian fast bowler with any international T20 experience He will have to get back to taking wickets with the new ball if India are to entertain any hopes of putting one across teams like the West Indies and Australia2 Fewer runs in last 6A T20 game can be easily divided into three parts first six overs of high scoring the following eight of consolidation and the last six of slog Even if the opposition gets away with the game in the first six India are likely to get back into the game in the middle eight thanks to its experienced spin attack But the last six still remain a concern Mohammad Shami is Indiarsquos bowling spearhead but he has conceded a boundary every four balls between the 41st and 50th overs in ODIs And hence itrsquoll take a great disciplined effort from him to return with good figures in Bangladesh3 Play three spinnersTraditionally fast bowlers have picked more wickets and conceded fewer runs in T20 cricket But India may have to adopt a different strategy and take the road less travelled by playing three spinners and only two fast bowlers While Bhuvneshwar and Shami are the two obvious picks the third option is a toss up between Varun Aaron and Mohit Sharma if India were to play three seamers It just doesnrsquot inspire confidence right Thatrsquos why playing Amit Mishra ahead of the third seam bowler could be a more viable option Mishrarsquos T20 credentials are second to none and it might just work against Australia and South Africa4 Send Rahane upInstead of opening with the ODI pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan it might be worth gambling with Rahane at the top in place of Rohit Rahane is in better form than his Mumbai teammate and T20 cricket demands to have inform players to bat at the top Also Rohitrsquos inability to rotate the strike puts pressure on Dhawan which leads to his premature dismissals too Rahane on the other hand has not only got all the strokes but also has the ability to offer deft touches Having Rohit in the middle could also be helpful considering the comebacks of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh Therersquos a possibility that both might be slightly rusty and slow things down a tad Thatrsquos where Rohit could be an asset too for he has the big shots to finish games off5 Opt to bat secondIn most cases the toss decision depends a lot on the conditions but in Indiarsquos case itrsquos a nobrainer Considering Indiarsquos bowling strengths or the lack of it itrsquos imperative for them to chase whenever Dhoni wins the toss I firmly believe that T20 is won by teams with better bowling for you need at least five of them to bowl four overs apiece and India doesnrsquot have quality in their bowling department So for the batting to bail India out in Bangladesh itrsquos better to chase a total than set a target2132014 The day India play Pakistan in their opening game of the World T20 in Mirpur