NEW DELHI: As the T20 World Cup begins on Sunday, the focus of millions of cricket fans will be on Team India, who haven’t won an ICC trophy since 2013. Rohit Sharma and his team came close in the ODI World Cup last year at home but lost to Australia in the final. The pressure is on to break their ICC trophy drought.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his insights on India’s prospects while speaking to AB de Villiers on YouTube channel.
“Well, it is not going to be easy for sure because we haven’t played T20 cricket the way it is supposed to be played for the last few editions. Whether it was the one in Dubai, the one in Australia. We haven’t been up to the mark but somehow we’ve found the same assembly of stars. So the batting order still looks the same, the bowling almost looks the same,” Chopra said.”So it is going to be tough but then I’m expecting the pitches in the West Indies, second part of the tournament at least, where the pitches may start holding up a little bit. Big ground, spinners may come into the picture and that is where India might have a slight advantage to actually do well,” Chopra added.
Predictions for India’s lineupChopra made a bold prediction regarding India’s batting lineup, suggesting that Virat Kohli would open with Rohit Sharma, leaving no place for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the playing XI.
“I feel your friend biscuit is going to open. He will be opening with Rohit and there will be no place for Yashasvi in the playing XI is what I understand. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube both will be playing and Dube is almost undroppable in my opinion. He is the only guy who has been hitting sixes well. Otherwise, Hardik or Jadeja or Axar Patel. You need some muscle towards the latter half of a T20 innings, especially in the West Indies, when you are playing the day games,” he said.
India’s Preparations
Team India enters the tournament with confidence, having secured a convincing 60-run win against Bangladesh in their warm-up game. Rishabh Pant’s performance was particularly noteworthy, scoring 53 off 32 balls and demonstrating his potential in the T20 format.
India are set to face Ireland in their opening match on Wednesday, aiming to start their campaign on a high note and set the stage for a successful run in the tournament.