T20 World Cup 2021: 3 batters key to India's hopes of winning the tournament
Team India haven’t won the T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition in 2007, when MS Dhoni and his young boys created history. They came close in 2014, but stumbled at the final hurdle to Sri Lanka.
During the previous T20 World Cup in India in 2016, eventual champions West Indies dumped India out in the semis on the basis of their batting might. At almost every edition, India have been among the favorites but have failed to go all the way.
Following their semi-final exit in the 2019 50-over World Cup and the disappointing defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, their hunt for an ICC title continues. With 2021 be the year India end their title jinx?
3 Indian batters to watch out for at T20 World Cup 2021
Be it the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan or the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, batting has led India down big time in crunch games. Ahead of this month’s T20 World Cup, we profile three batters who could hold the key to India’s success.
#3 Rishabh Pant
Agreed, Rishabh Pant has not had the greatest of times in the IPL this season. Speaking specifically about the UAE leg, he has got starts in almost every game but has failed to convert the same. On a number of occasions, he has given his wicket away by playing false strokes.
The slow and low wickets in the UAE have not suited Pant’s style of play. And things are only going to get tougher for the batters considering that a few more IPL games will be played in the UAE before the T20 World Cup begins at the same venue. Even so, India will find it difficult to win the coveted trophy without a decent hand from Pant.
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The dashing left-hander, who recently turned 24, will have to find a way to score runs, and get them at a decent pace. It will be Pant’s job to give India the final flourish. He overcame a massive challenge in Australia, proving critics wrong with his fantastic batting efforts in the Test series. Can he design a method to succeed in the T20 World Cup as well?
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#2 KL Rahul
Barring a brief period during the T20 series against England at home earlier this year, KL Rahul has been in fantastic form for India in white-ball cricket. Of course, he also resurrected his Test career with some commendable efforts in England.
Rahul is currently leading Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL and, not surprisingly, is the leading run-scorer in the tournament (at the time of filing this report). He has amassed over 500 runs in 12 games at a strike rate of 129.09 and an average of 52.80.
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Last season as well, he walked away with the Orange Cap, having hammered 670 runs in 14 IPL games. His captaincy credentials may be in doubt but there are no two ways about his class with the bat. Rahul in PBKS’ team is a classic case of right man in the wrong team.
The standout aspect of Rahul’s batting is his adaptability. Irrespective of the surface, he has the talent and the skills to score runs, that too while hardly looking in any sort of trouble. Rahul has proved the same time and again in his white-ball career. This is specifically why he will be a key component in India’s batting machinery during the T20 World Cup, whether opening or coming one down.
#1 Rohit Sharma
This is Rohit Sharma’s time in world cricket and he would like to make the most of it by capturing the T20 World Cup crown. When the last World Cup was held in the T20 format, Rohit was already an established white-ball player. But now, he is a much more accomplished cricketer across formats and knows his game a lot better.
Rohit has got a T20I record that is among the very best in the world. With 2864 runs from 111 games at a strike rate of 138.96, India’s limited-overs vice-captain is third on the list of all-time leading run-getters in the format. He also holds the record for the joint-fastest T20I hundred - 35 balls.
T20 is a format that was created for players like Rohit to like to go out and dominate. But what separates him from many others in the format is that he is no slogger. Rohit can score runs as quickly as anyone by playing proper cricketing strokes. And he is probably at the pinnacle of his batting at this point in time.
An explosive opener, an Indian legend, and two clever short-form bowlers take the first four spots in Kieron Pollard’s top five T20 players.
The fifth player? Let’s just say he knows more about him than anyone else 😂
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It was at the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 that Rohit announced himself on the big stage. As a 20-year-old, he made a sublime 50* in a group encounter against South Africa in Durban and contributed a highly underrated 30 not out off 16 in the final against Pakistan.
14 years down the line, he will head into the latest edition of the T20 World Cup as India’s no.1 batter in the format, with the hopes of a nation resting heavily on his shoulders.