A lot was said after India lost the last T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan and India’s erstwhile team management did cop a lot of flak for its archaic batting approach in shortest format of the game.
A look at what has changed since then:
ROHIT SHARMA AS CAPTAIN
Under Rohit’s captaincy, India’s record since the T20 World Cup is good: 14 wins out of 16 played. His instinctive and out-of-the-box leadership is popular with players.
NEW ATTACKING MINDSET
India’s T20 batting style can be divided into two parts. During and before the T20 World Cup, it was based on the formula of conserving wickets at the start, consolidating in middle and going bang-bang in the final 5-7 overs. Since the World Cup, there has been a dramatic change. The Indians batters have scored significantly quicker in the Powerplay overs and then carried on the momentum in the middle overs as well as the death.
WINNING AFTER BATTING FIRST
India were always an excellent chasing side. Batting first, the picture wasn’t rosy. But things have changed in the Rohit-Rahul Dravid era. While the chasing win loss record remains at 7-1, it has gone up to 12-3 batting first.
RISE OF ‘SKY’
Suryakumar Yadav has come into his own since the T20 World Cup. Ricky Ponting even compared him to AB de Villiers for possessing a 360-degree game. Since the World Cup, he has scored 491 runs in 15 games at an average of 35.07 and a strike-rate of 180.51. The masterful 117 against England recently made everyone stand up and applaud.
RETURN OF BHUVI AND YUZI
The biggest selection faux pas committed by the Indian selectors while choosing the team for last year’s T20 World Cup was to leave out the wily Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal, naturally, has returned with a bang and since the World Cup, has been Rohit Sharma’s go-to man in pursuit of wickets. Chahal has scalped 16 wickets at a strike-rate of 15.8 and economy rate of 7.06 in the matches he has played after the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a major disappointment in the match against Pakistan last year. But the 32-year-old pacer has hit his straps since, taking 23 wickets (economy rate 6. 95) after the World Cup.
A look at what has changed since then:
ROHIT SHARMA AS CAPTAIN
Under Rohit’s captaincy, India’s record since the T20 World Cup is good: 14 wins out of 16 played. His instinctive and out-of-the-box leadership is popular with players.
NEW ATTACKING MINDSET
India’s T20 batting style can be divided into two parts. During and before the T20 World Cup, it was based on the formula of conserving wickets at the start, consolidating in middle and going bang-bang in the final 5-7 overs. Since the World Cup, there has been a dramatic change. The Indians batters have scored significantly quicker in the Powerplay overs and then carried on the momentum in the middle overs as well as the death.
WINNING AFTER BATTING FIRST
India were always an excellent chasing side. Batting first, the picture wasn’t rosy. But things have changed in the Rohit-Rahul Dravid era. While the chasing win loss record remains at 7-1, it has gone up to 12-3 batting first.
RISE OF ‘SKY’
Suryakumar Yadav has come into his own since the T20 World Cup. Ricky Ponting even compared him to AB de Villiers for possessing a 360-degree game. Since the World Cup, he has scored 491 runs in 15 games at an average of 35.07 and a strike-rate of 180.51. The masterful 117 against England recently made everyone stand up and applaud.
RETURN OF BHUVI AND YUZI
The biggest selection faux pas committed by the Indian selectors while choosing the team for last year’s T20 World Cup was to leave out the wily Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal, naturally, has returned with a bang and since the World Cup, has been Rohit Sharma’s go-to man in pursuit of wickets. Chahal has scalped 16 wickets at a strike-rate of 15.8 and economy rate of 7.06 in the matches he has played after the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a major disappointment in the match against Pakistan last year. But the 32-year-old pacer has hit his straps since, taking 23 wickets (economy rate 6. 95) after the World Cup.