Last Updated on 9 months ago by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: How can India revive their T20 cricket? | How India can revive their T20 cricket after T20 World Cup elimination

Two of the most shocking results in the T20 World Cup were India’s consecutive, heavy losses against Pakistan and New Zealand.

You might argue that in the context of a sport, a defeat can be taken casually as ‘just another off day’. But, the manner in which they lost both these games was baffling to witness as an Indian fan. If you see the list of the current Indian players including the reserves they have, it looks just too good on paper. They even defeated an invincible side like England just a few months ago prior to the World Cup.

That’s why this sort of a performance wasn’t expected at all from this Indian team. 

It’s just disheartening to see this side not having an ICC trophy. And this drought will continue at least for another year as India crashed out of the T20 World Cup at the group stage. Why do they lose in big games in white ball cricket? Do these losses raise some big questions? Should we expect some changes going forward? Let’s analyze some key points to get our answers.

1. India needs to work on their approach while batting first

Considering the T20Is India played after the 2019 ODI World Cup prior to this World Cup, they elected to bowl first on 10 out of the 14 occasions they won the toss. It shows that they are more comfortable chasing a target. When they see a target in front of them, they bat with more clarity and confidence. It is evident from the fact that they have chased the target successfully on nine out of those 10 occasions.

On the other hand, they lost seven out of the 18 games they batted second in this period.

In my opinion, they need to be clearer in their approach while batting first. They should divide the game into multiple phases, set small targets and try achieve them. More importantly, there should be a plan as per the opposition. They should pick the weak links in the bowling attack and go bonkers against them. You just can’t let the fifth or sixth bowler of the opposition finish his four overs with an economy rate of below seven or so.

Secondly, they should get out of their comfort zone and treat the bilateral series as an opportunity to develop their T20 cricket. For the same, they need to bat first more often when winning the toss. In this way, they can face several scenarios while batting first and get an opportunity to act accordingly in those situations. This, in turn, will make those scenarios familiar for them in the big events and they won’t seem to be clueless.  

2. BCCI needs to manage the workload of the India players

The Indian team has had a ridiculous schedule over the past year or so. They spent months in Australia at the backend of 2020 and start of 2021, followed by Tests, ODIs and T20Is against England at home. This was soon followed by the first phase of IPL 2021, before they were on a plane to England and thereafter played the second half of the IPL which finished just before the World Cup.

They have been shifting from one bio-bubble to another throughout the year. Yes, they might seem supremely fit from their physique, but after such a busy year as professional cricketers, anybody would be mentally drained and exhausted. The BCCI should consider their workload and manage it in an appropriate manner. They are humans after all and not machines.

3. India needs to follow the English model to rebuild their T20 cricket

Cricket has three separate formats each having its own significance. Each format needs players as per its demands. If we talk about India, it has the biggest talent pool in the world. It is so broad that India can practically field three different elevens in each format simultaneously.

However, we see many players playing multiple formats as a result of our conservative thought in white-ball cricket. This often keeps the players in a confused state regarding their approach while switching formats, which in turn affects the overall performance of the team.

Therefore, India needs to adopt the English model and groom different players for different formats. Each player should have an assigned role in the team and asked to do so in a particular situation in the game. Further, there should be some decent backups in the team for each role. They shouldn’t just warm the bench and should get decent enough opportunities at times to remain prepared for the big events.

India’s elimination further highlights the fact that this side has underachieved in the shortest format of the game. Their focus must immediately shift to the T20 World Cup in Australia next year. They should:

• Create their gameplan as per the demands of the Australian tracks;
• Utilize the international series as preparations for the World Cup;
• Groom the backups for their first-choice players; and
• Keep themselves mentally fit for the mega event.

If they do these things perfectly, they can surely revive their T20 cricket and lift the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.

Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today