India need match-winners to step up to complete white-ball World Cup double in England

 

Image :X

The Indian team for the forthcoming T20 World Cup has now been announced. The recent results in South Africa notwithstanding, the team does stand a realistic chance of doing well in the UK. What should also help is that India will be in the UK from the end of May and will be playing three games against England as part of the build-up. Add to it a couple of warm-up matches and the preparation should be perfect. When we note that India toured the UK at the same time last year and won both the T20 and ODI series, it does give us hope and adds to the optimism going into the tournament.

A look at India’s group makes it evident that two out of the three teams – India, Australia and South Africa – should advance to the semi-finals. The schedule too works well for India. India play Pakistan in Birmingham on 14 June and have the Netherlands in Leeds on 17 June before facing South Africa in Manchester on 21 June. By then, they will be well into the competition and have had a taste of what’s on offer. Conditions in Manchester in June could offer assistance to the faster bowlers, and that is not necessarily a bad thing for India. With rain around, it could boil down to individual brilliance, and that’s where India will need to cash in.

T20 is the most individualistic of all team sports, and that is both India’s strength and drawback. India have a number of match-winners, and it could come down to how these players stack up on crucial days. A Smriti Mandhana classic or a Harmanpreet Kaur gem could win India a game. Unlike in the 50-over format, where India have a more rounded team, in T20 cricket it could be the X-factor players who make the difference.

That’s where we come to Richa Ghosh. Between skipper Harmanpreet and Richa, India will need to finish well. Richa is the perfect candidate for the big hits at the death and needs to be in top shape going into the competition. Her form has been a matter of concern, and it will be key to get her into peak condition ahead of the World Cup. Richa, with the bat and behind the wickets, could well be the difference between an Indian win and a loss.

Additionally, the fielding has to improve. Simple chances are still being fluffed, and it has been an age-old Indian problem. Amol Muzumdar, as coach, is aware of it and is doing all he can with his support staff to address the issue.

What should work well for India in the UK is the crowd support. Lord’s, for example, has already sold 24,000 tickets for the women’s Test match in July, and chances are that Indian fans will come out in numbers to back the team in the World Cup in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and London. Coming on the back of the home World Cup win, expectations are high. Hopefully, the team will soak up the pressure and deliver once more.

Follow Revsportz for latest sports news

The post India need match-winners to step up to complete white-ball World Cup double in England appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consistent Nicholas Pooran can be world’s top T20 batter

Image
Nicholas Pooran’s carnage against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Image: IPL He has always had a calmness about him. A very West Indian relaxed kind of mindset and demeanour. And having seen adversity, he knows that one needs to celebrate and value the good that comes your way. The urge to keep getting better, and be the best version of oneself, is what defines the new Nicholas Pooran. That’s what came through in the candid conversations we had on the IPL and his own approach to batting. Not overawed by the 21-crore price tag or the weight of expectations, Pooran is simply going about his job. He knows he can hit the ball miles and is keeping it simple. Go and do what you do best for hours and hours at practice, and in doing so, help your team Lucknow Super Giants] demolish opponents. “The best part about this franchise is they have never put me under pressure,” he told me. “When you are paid a lot of money, there is always pressure. Not so much from outside but from within. You know you ne...
Read more

Turning the clock back by 0.12 seconds

Image
MS Dhoni with a stumping dismissal against MI in the IPL 2025 in Chennai (PC: BCCI) The moment of the Chennai Super Kings-Mumbai Indians match lasted less than half a second. It was the 11 th over of the MI innings. Suryakumar Yadav was bringing the batting side back in the game. Noor Ahmad beat him on a forward charge, the ball spun away, and the right-hander’s hind leg got off the ground before he planted it back. That was all MS Dhoni needed to brush the bails off. At a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium decked in yellow and chanting his name, that was the only occasion when Dhoni was in ‘action’. It showed that at 43, his reflexes have not slackened and he has got sharper in plotting dismissals. This one was replayed on TV again and again during the match and commentators couldn’t help but keep talking about it. He had conceded four byes on the leg side in the same over. But this was the Dhoni who elevated stumping to another level. When it comes to waiting for batters to err wit...
Read more

From scoring ton in Patna to taking on bouncers like a ‘bullet’ in Perth – Nitish’s story of perseverance

Image
Nitish Kumar Reddy during the 1st innings of the Perth Test (PC: Debasis Sen) “Grateful, an innings to remember.” Nitish Reddy had posted the aforesaid statement on his Instagram account after cracking his maiden first-class hundred, against Bihar, in Patna. It wasn’t just about Nitish scoring an unbeaten 159 for Andhra. It was also about the way he scored those runs. He essayed a few crunchy drives off Veer Pratap Singh and also showcased his range of shots against Ashutosh Aman, the left-arm spinner, by playing with the turn and also against the turn. This hundred from Nitish came just before the 2024 IPL season, where he accumulated 303 runs. Once again, it wasn’t just about Nitish accruing 303 runs as he accumulated them with a touch of class. Soon, the Indian think-tank drafted the all-rounder into the limited-overs set-up. Although he missed the Zimbabwe series because of a hernia problem, it was crystal clear that the coaching staff had a vision – to pick him for the tour o...
Read more