World T20 2016: SWOT Analysis of Indian team

India is all set to play T20 World Cup in their own backyard in March-April 2016. With the selectors making two major changes to the T20 squad that won 3-0 against Australia in Australia in January this year, the unknown all-rounder Pawan Negi and injured pacer Mohammad Shami have both returned to India’s T20I squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Shami has not played for India since the ODI World Cup 2015 semi-final, while Pawan Negi has represented India in only one match. There was no place in the squad for Manish Pandey, Irfan Pathan and Amit Mishra. MS Dhoni, who’s captaincy in limited overs cricket was under scrutiny despite reaching the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2015, has been given a breather and is retained as a captain for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Now looking back at team, here is the SWOT Analysis of the Indian team’s squad:

Strengths:

Batting:

This is the monopoly of Indian team from over the years and this time around, it will remain same as Indian fans will once again expect from their batsmen to do most of the work to help India to win their second T20 World Cup and actually they do have the fire power in their batting department who can win them games single handedly. If we see India’s batting order then we will see Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who will open for India. Both are impact players and there is no question about that. The form is in Rohit Sharma right now if he can continue his form in upcoming World Cup then anything can happen and a powerful left-hander Shikhar Dhawan will give him a company from other hand. If these two fails then India have their Mr. Dependable named Virat Kohli who plays his cricket very simple. He does not play hard cricket like Gayle or Maxwell but plays with his exceptional skills and open-mind and tries to bat 20 overs and that will give other players like Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni to bat around him. Likes of Raina, Yuvraj and Dhoni can attack from other end whenever they have Virat with them from one end. These three finishers gives a big boost to Indian batting order and if they fail then they have three good all-rounders who can score runs if needed in-form of Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin. These nine players really will look forward to make their impact in upcoming World Cup with the bat to help India to win the World Cup.

Home Condition:

Every team wants to play cricket in their own country because they know pitches, atmosphere and one massive aspect is that they will have a huge support that always boost their confidence and this time around T20 World Cup of 2016 will take place in India. Indian fans will back their players till last breath but now its up to the players to win the World Cup for them and that is possible because they will play in front of their home crowd. Though if we go by stats then India have played 13 T20I matches till this day in India and won only just 5 and it will be challenge for MS Dhoni and his team to change the stats and if they can then India will be emerge as champions of 2016 T20 World Cup.

Experienced captain:

MS Dhoni has been India’s most successful captain. He is known as captain cool and rightly so because he has won T20 World Cup of 2007, ODI World Cup of 2011,ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and not only that under his leadership India also reached to no.1 in ICC Test team rankings once. He is the most experienced captain when we compare to other team and his experience under such pressure situations in big tournaments like this, will certainly increase India’s chances to win the World Cup.

Weakness:

Pace Department:

If we want to find any weakness in India’s squad and that should be their bowling because Ashish Nehra has just made a comeback into international cricket and bowled decently in Australia along with that JaspritBumrah is still new and he has not played matches under pressure in his career so far so he will be tested if India reaches to big games. Third seamer that India have picked is Mohammad Shami who last played for India in 2015 in ODI World Cup and he will make his comeback in India’s team in Asia Cup so in Asia Cup he will only get three or four matches to prepare himself for big tournament and it is always hard for a fast bowler to make a comeback and find his rhythm and pace so Shami will take his time to re-establish himself in international setup. If these three will not click in World Cup then India will surely have to think out of the box to win the matches.

Lower Middle Order:

India’s lower middle order has some all-rounders but we have not seen them performing in T20I matches. India have Hardik Pandya at no.7, Ravindra Jadeja at no.8 and Ravi Ashwin at no.9, these players certainly will play a role in batting department whenever top-order and middle-order will fail but why India’s lower-middle is weak because they have not won enough matches for India by their batting heroics but somehow India have to manage with these three players in lower middle order and other option India have that of Pawan Negi but it looks like he will only get chance if Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja will perform badly in World Cup group stage matches.

Also read: 5 Indian Women players to watch out for in World T20

Opportunities:

Hardik Pandya:

This upcoming World Cup will decide whether India finally found a new batting all-rounder or not and it will be a massive opportunity for him as he has told in his recent interview that “In this World Cup, he want to do what Yuvraj Singh did it for India in 2011 World Cup.” We can hope that he will prove his words right and help India to win the matches and if he can do that then certainly doors of Indian ODI team and Test team will be opened for him by selectors but the time will only give us answer whether he will make it or not.

Time for pace bowlers to shine:

India have tried various combinations in their pace department in last few years. They have played with Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma etc. but they selected different bowlers in their team for upcoming T20 World Cup. They recalled Nehra due to his abilities of taking wickets and JaspritBumrah by backing of his unique bowling action and ability to bowl yorkers. Shami is the only one who played for India consistently apart from last year. It will be opportunity for Ashish Nehra to show World that he can play for another year or two for India and JaspritBumrah also would like to impress selectors for Test birth and Shami will like to do what he did for India in last ODI World Cup of 2015.

Threats:

Lack of variation in bowling lineup:

This will be a big threat for India because if we see in pace department there will be some questions like what Dhoni will do if Nehra fails, whether is Shami will be able to give his 100 percent or not because there will not any other options for Dhoni barring Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. If we see in spin department then India will rely on Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja but what will India do if Ashwin fails, will they include Negi and play with two left-arm spinners. India have not included any leg-spinner in their side so Dhoni have to play with these options and he has to bring best out of them most of the time to help India to clinch the World Cup.

Inconsistency in batting:

India has a powerful batting lineup which includes Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni but as we have seen in 1^st T20I match against Sri Lanka which was played on February 9, 2016, in Pune where Indian batters struggled and India bowled out for 101 and Sri Lanka won that match. This loss against Sri Lanka came after India have beaten Australia in Australia by 3-0 in a three match T20I series. This shows India’s lack of consistency in batting and if India will play like this in World Cup and particularly in big matches then they may lose those matches easily but if they want to win the World Cup, they have to maintain consistency in their batting which is their biggest strength.