T20 World Cup 2021: "A lot of their players aren't in great form" - Scott Styris on a major worry for Team India ahead of the tournament
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Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris has opined that while Team India are the favorites to win the T20 World Cup, the worry for the inaugural champions will be the lack of form of a majority of their first-choice players.
Speaking on a podcast at NewstalkZB, Styris was asked to pick his favorites for the marquee T20 event. Styris said:
"India is No.1. The worry they have is that a lot of their players aren't in great form. It was the second-tier players that stepped up in the backend of the IPL."
Most of the first-choice Indian players like skipper Virat Kohli, opener Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin had disappointing stints during the second leg of the IPL.
The two warm-up games against England and Australia on October 18 and 20 respectively will be crucial for players to get back into the groove before the 'Last Dance' gets underway.
"Sharjah has terrible cricket pitches, which are not great for T20" - Scott Styris
The pitches in the UAE, especially the one in Sharjah, which was devoid of any pace or bounce during the recent IPL season, are also a worry according to Styris.
The former Kiwi cricketer reckoned that if the pitches continue to behave the same during the World Cup, the challenge for teams will be to adjust their game according to the condition. Styris said:
"The pitches weren't great this time around. It's a bit of a worry for the T20 World Cup. Sharjah, in particular, has terrible cricket pitches, which are not great for T20. So you had to really work out how to score runs on it, and in the end, 120-130 ended up being the winning score on a few occasions. It's going to be a problem for the WC. Teams will have to make adjustments and find a way to win rather than practice boundary-laden cricket."
The warm-up stage of the World Cup began on October 18 and teams’ will look to shape their playing XI as per conditions before the main round gets underway from October 23.