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| The ‘Warriors in Blue’ for England WT20 |
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With just few days to go for the second edition of the World Twenty20 Championship in England, Rohan Tawde analyzes the players picked in the Indian squad to defend the title.
The team selected for the 2009 WT20 is again boasted with young names but there are six changes from the one that won the Championship in South Africa. Let’s do a sneak-peak on the 15 names that will be defending India’s honour in the ‘Land of Angels’.
1). Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain): Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be always remembered as the Captain who won India the maiden WT20 Trophy. He is undoubtedly the face of Indian cricket today and the onus lies upon him to lead the defense of the T20 Champions title. As a batsman, the Indian skipper is very versatile and has the ability to bat at any number in the team. His potential to clear the ropes with ease in the death overs make him a formidable player in the shortest format of the game.
In the recently concluded IPL 2, he led the Chennai Super Kings to the semi-finals and his performance with the willow was commendable too. But after a hectic international and IPL schedule, would Dhoni be fit enough for the WT20? Will fatigue wear him down ahead of this crucial tournament?
2). Virender Sehwag: Undoubtedly one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket today, Virender Sehwag holds the key to India’s success in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Being the deputy and the opener of the side, the ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ has the responsibility to help his country post or chase big totals. Though, the Delhi batsman has the talent to tear apart any bowling attack in the world, his recent form hasn’t been an impressive one.
Despite leading the Delhi Daredevils team well in the IPL campaign, he himself managed only a paltry 198 runs in 11 games. Some of the manners in which Sehwag got out were disastrous and the right-hander cannot afford a similar kind of performance in WT20. But he looked like getting back his groove in the latter part of the competition which is good news for him and India.
3). Gautam Gambhir: This southpaw from Delhi has been one of the pillars of the Indian batting line-up in the past couple of years and has proved himself as the player for all seasons. Gambhir has the skills to anchor an innings and can also play the big shots when required. But like his opening mate Sehwag, ‘Gauti’ too had a below average IPL 2 season where he managed only a solitary half-century in 15 games.
He struggled with the bounce of the South African wickets and in England he will have to encounter swing too. Another problem that was very apparent with the Indian opener during IPL was that he couldn’t just get going in an innings. Gambhir was the leading run-scorer for India during the inaugural WT20, but can he repeat history this time with his current dicey form?
4). Yuvraj Singh: As a cricketer, Yuvraj Singh is a man possessed with flamboyance and extra-ordinary skills. Being a gifted batsmen, the Punjabi southpaw can hit sixes at his will (If you don’t believe me, ask Stuart Broad who was clobbered for 6 sixes in an over at Durban). The middle-order revolves around this man and he leads the pack on the field too with his livewire attitude.
Though, his team didn’t make it into the final four of the IPL, Yuvraj himself had a good tournament with both bat and ball. He managed 340 runs in the competition but it was disappointing to see him not carry on with his starts. The couple of hat-tricks he took during the IPL justify his potential as an all-rounder. If ‘Yuvi’ fires throughout the tourney, expect India to retain the Championship with ease.
5). Suresh Raina: One of the budding talents in Indian cricket, Suresh Raina is definitely the man for the future. His aggressive batting style and sharp fielding handiness makes him a valuable addition to the Indian ODI and T20 outfit. The Uttar Pradesh left-hander is in tremendous form currently and his counter-attacking batting mode makes his a serious threat to the opponent.
Raina was one of the top run-scorers in the IPL 2 and was a major reason for Chennai’s success in South Africa. He hammered 434 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 140.9, which clearly shows what we are going to get from this man in England.
6). Rohit Sharma: He is another success story of the second edition of IPL and being honoured as the best Under-23 player of the competition just vindicates the aptitude of Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai lad is a terrific batter in the middle-order and has shown the nerves to deliver in crunch situations. Deccan Chargers owe a lot of their success to Rohit Sharma. He aggregated a total of 362 runs in 16 games while 11 victims (including a hat-trick) with the ball show his quality as an off-spinner.
Surprisingly though, this youngster has always failed to deliver for his country on a consistent basis. Rohit can certainly take his performance in the IPL as an incentive, entering the T20 extravaganza in UK and might change his track-record for India this time around.
7). Irfan Pathan: Being one of the leading all-rounders in Indian cricket today, Irfan Pathan brings a lot of stability to the one-day team. Striking crucial blows in the middle overs with his medium-pace and slogging the ball cleanly out of the park makes him a grievous prospect in the T20 arena. With 17 scalps, the younger Pathan was sixth on the list of the leading wicket-takers in IPL 2. The swinging conditions in England will definitely benefit this Baroda cricketer. Can Irfan carry the responsibility as the leading all-rounder of his team in England?
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