T20 World Cup | India’s top-order is explosive

Another ICC World Cup begins, and this time in the ultra-short format of the game, the T20. There has to be some off-field issues that dominate the headlines and this time is no different. As usual, there will be some from the old powers who blame the BCCI for the problem and not their cricket board’s representative, who also would have been part of any decision taken. Once the cricket starts, all this will be put aside as teams will focus on doing their very best to get ahead in the tournament.

India are the pre-tournament favourites, not only because they are the defending champions but also because of the cricket that they have been playing recently. They begin their campaign against the USA. The America team has a fair share of players who played a good amount of First Class cricket in India and then migrated to the USA. Some of them have played alongside India players and know them quite well. That said, there won’t be any let-up on the field from either side.

The PowerPlay generally gives an indication of which way the innings is going, though there are plenty of times when teams have recovered after a horrible start. India’s opening duo Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan has been getting the team off to a flying start. With skipper Suryakumar Yadav back to his innovative best and Tilak Varma returning to full fitness, the top-order looks explosive. They will be challenged by Saurabh Netravalkar at the start and then Harmeet Singh. Both know the Wankhede pitch quite well and would be aware that there is little margin for error.

Their batters will be up against Jasprit Bumrah, currently the best bowler in all formats of the game. In the just-concluded series against New Zealand, he was used as a first-change bowler in the fifth over. Just like how the batting order has to be flexible, there shouldn’t be rigidity about the bowling order. The T20 format allows even unfancied teams to change the tempo of the game in the blink of an eye. The USA will be hoping they can do it and start the tournament with a bang.

(Professional Management Group)