India won the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. Since then they have had disappointing campaigns in 2009 and 2010 and a reasonably decent campaign in 2012. They went undefeated till the final in ICC World T20 2014 before losing to Sri Lanka. This year they have a settled combination, enough match-practice, in-form cricketers, and most importantly the home advantage. For once it appears that everything is going in India’s favour. They smashed past West Indies in their first warm-up match and managed to come close against South Africa, falling short by just 4 runs. With all this in mind, it is not a stretch to call India the overwhelming favourites to win ICC World T20 2016.
Batsmen: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are in prime form. Rohit scored an unbeaten 98 against West Indies, and Dhawan an unbeaten 73 against South Africa in the two warm-up matches. Both men have been in tremendous touch this year. India’s No. 3 Virat Kohli has been in even better form, having scored heavily throughout this year. With India’s top three firing on all cylinders, the middle order has not had to do much.
That said Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni have done admirably whenever they have been needed. Raina played a match-winning innings in the final T20I against Australia, after which he had a lean patch. However, he came back to form in the warm-up match against South Africa. As for Yuvraj and Dhoni, both men have shown glimpses of their old reliability for some time now. They nearly took India to an unlikely win from a precarious position against South Africa.
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Pawan Negi are India’s all-rounders. Pandya has shown immense prowess with the bat but has not got too many chances. With the ball, he has proven himself a more than handy third seamer. Jadeja and Ashwin have been reliable as ever, though neither has had much batting practice. Negi bowled wonderfully against West Indies but took a pounding from South Africa. He batted against West Indies, but did not do much.
Bowlers: India’s bowling has been the major reason behind their success in T20Is this year. Led by the experienced Ashish Nehra and the dependable Jasprit Bumrah, India have struck frequently in the early overs and also managed to hold ends up in the death. Nehra and Bumrah have been good both at the start and the death, which has helped India restrict the opposition more often than not.
Ashwin and Jadeja have performed their roles with distinction, either attacking or restricting depending on the need of the hour. Pandya has been a revelation as well; as the third seamer he has managed to hold his own and strike at regular intervals when needed. Harbhajan Singh has been proficient whenever he has got the chance to play, though unfortunately for him he continues to be India’s third-choice spinner.
Conclusion: India have rarely gone into tournaments as such firm favourites, but this time given their current form as well as the home advantage it is hard to think of anyone else who can win the tournament. However, this also means that the pressure of winning is on India and this could prove to be a hindrance more than a boon for India. That said, MS Dhoni is experienced at leading his team in pressure situations, so Indian fans will be confident in their team’s ability to bring home another title.