4 Issues team India is facing ahead of T20 World Cup 2020

1. Opting for bowling all-rounders in place of specialist wicket-taking spinners

In an era where teams’ are gradually realizing the importance of wicket-taking bowlers within their set-up in Twenty20 cricket, India are looking to go with bowlers who can contribute with the bat too. While that is not to say that bowlers who can also contribute with the bat aren’t an added bonus, let us not forget that primary skill- which in this case is bowling- shouldn’t be overlooked.

If an attacking bowler can give you crucial wickets in the middle-overs, then you wouldn’t require his batting skills in the first place. The best example of it is the 2019 World Cup semi-final where India went with a similar approach of having batting strength till No.9.

The fact of the matter is, two years ago, India dropped Ashwin and Jadeja purely because wrist-spin gave them a more attacking option. And, the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal did. For two years, they were India’s X-Factors in white-ball cricket. And, then Kuldeep had a bad IPL followed by a forgettable World Cup fixture against England, where the hosts cashed in on short boundaries and shellacked not only him but also his partner Chahal.

And, Kohli and the management quickly went into the defensive mode. Bowling all-rounders have been preferred since then and Chahal, whether it is a spell against Bangladesh in the first T20I or in Hyderabad against the West Indies, has repeatedly shown why wrist-spinners are the need of the hour in T20 cricket.

India must understand that on flat Australian pitches and big grounds, wrist-spinners could prove to be lethal as compared to the off-spinning all-rounders and playing the duo of Kuldeep and Chahal together could well turn out to be a masterstroke in the quadrennial event.