T20 World Cup 2022: Can Rohit Sharma and co. repeat MS Dhoni-led Indian team's magical 2007?
T20 World Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma has been named the captain of the side and he is all set to make his debut in this ICC event as the chief of the men in blue. The Indian team in the 2021 edition of the World Cup had a pretty dismal outing as they went out crashing in the initial phases of the World
T20 World Cup 2022: The Indian team is all set to embark on yet another journey towards World Cup glory. The much-awaited ICC event is around the corner and teams have started to announce the squads that will compete on the grandest stage of them all. On September 12, 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member Indian team that will board the flight to Australia and have a crack at top international teams to win the ultimate T20 glory.
Rohit Sharma has been named the captain of the side and he is all set to make his debut in this ICC event as the chief of the men in blue. The Indian team in the 2021 edition of the World Cup had a pretty dismal outing as they went out crashing in the initial phases of the World Cup. This caused major shift changes in the Indian cricketing outfit and now the hopes of billion people rests on the shoulders of Rohit Sharma and the Indian contingency that he is leading.
15 years back, the Indian team had scripted history at the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 2007. The World Cup was played in South Africa and earlier that year India had crashed out of the 50-over World Cup owing to losses against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. But a young Indian outfit led by MS Dhoni, who were the underdogs of the T20 World Cup tournament went on to script history and since then, no other captain could get their hands on the trophy. With the Indian team gearing up for the 2022 challenge, let us pit these teams and their scenarios against each other to determine the Indian contingency's chance in the upcoming marquee event.
MS Dhoni's triumphant Indian team
This is one story that has to stay for the ages. With legends of the game such as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, and Anil Kumble pulling out of the tournament, a long-haired young MS Dhoni was named as the skipper of the Indian team. This team had very young members in it with the likes of Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, RP Singh, and Yusuf Pathan. Nobody had given this Indian team any chance and when their first match against Scotland got rained out, India just had one chance left, to beat Pakistan and remain alive. India exactly did what the doctor had ordered and the rest is just history, a history that is written in golden letters.
The combination of MS Dhoni's world-beating team:
MS Dhoni's team India was more tilted towards the youth but had a perfect blend of experience too. Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were the stalwarts of the game followed by a young Robin Uthappa who used to walk in at number 3 and smash bowlers at his own will. It was not just the trio of Uthappa, Gambhir, and Sehwag that gave bowlers nightmares, the opposition was warier about Yuvraj Singh who could bowl and hit sixes at his own will. Then followed MS Dhoni, the skipper, who was known for his powerful hits and helicopter shots that used to derail the opposition. India certainly batted deep with Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan walking in for the lower middle order. Then followed the pace battery of RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, and S Sreesanth who had all the capabilities to jolt the opposition and restrain them. Harbhajan Singh was the icing on the cake with his all-around capability of bowling and batting.
India played with 6 proper batsmen (Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma) and 7 bowling options (Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, and S Sreesanth). This was the team combination that helped India claim their maiden and only World T20I trophy.
Rohit's trusted Lieutenants
It has been 15 years since we saw the boys in blue clinch the T20I World Cup trophy and nobody has been able to repeat the heroics of MS Dhoni and his men. India had a pretty bad run in the 2021 edition of the T20I World Cup, they were the title contenders but they just could not have any impact on the tournament. Surprisingly, MS Dhoni was the mentor of the team. With Varun Chakravarty, Rahul Chahar, and Venkatesh Iyer making the cut, India looked like a very brittle side and they cracked under pressure.
The combination of Rohit's team:
With Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out, the Indian team has already faced a major setback ahead of this marquee event. Contrary to what MS Dhoni's Indian team was in 2007, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team is much higher on experience. With seniors such as Ravi Ashwin, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah operating, the Indians are in with an excellent chance of scripting history, but it is the balance of the team that is the root cause of concern. The current Indian team as of now has 5 proper batsmen (Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya). India have a good headache of choosing either Pant or Dinesh Karthik as their wicketkeeper. This Indian team certainly does not bat deep as the lower middle order consists of players such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzi Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, and Harshal Patel. The squad has been made in such a way that India will have to go with five bowlers including Hardik Pandya who is a batting allrounder.
Irrespective of the squad, the fans are expectant that Rohit Sharma and company can repeat MS Dhoni's heroics and bring the cup home for the second time.