The 13th edition of the IPL, which resumes this Sunday, will serve as a prelude to the bigger opera that the T20 World Cup is supposed to be in about a month’s time.
The Indian team, which will be led by Virat Kohli for one last time in the shortest format before he hands over the baton to someone else, will look to use the IPL to find a few answers before they begin their quest in the world meet.
The squads have been announced, but not all strategies have been finalised. Also, in case of injuries or other such emergencies which could force player replacements, the performance in IPL might play a deciding factor.
What then are the issues concerning the Indian team and its T20 World Cup players for which the IPL will be a test event?
Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Getty Images/Twitter
Opening act
Earlier this year, during the home T20I series against England, Kohli had expressed his desire to open the innings with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup because he believed if the “two best batsmen in the team” walked out at the top of the order that would put pressure on the opposition and “inflict a lot of damage”.
Question is, does Kohli think the same now? Will it be wise for him, who has always looked a natural No.3, to take that risk when he can easily let KL Rahul do the job?
Rahul Chahar. Getty Images/Twitter
The Rohit-Kohli combination had produced 94 quick runs in the last T20I of that series against England. But thereafter, his experiment as an opener in the first half of IPL 2021 was certainly not a roaring success. He opened in all seven Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) matches so far, aggregating 198 at 33.00 and a strike rate of 121.47 with just one 50-plus score. Just for the record, Shikhar Dhawan, who opens for Delhi Capitals, failed to make the T20 World Cup cut even though he has a better record in this IPL — 380 runs at 54.28 and a strike rate of 134.27.
It will be intriguing to see if Kohli continues to open in RCB’s remaining matches. That might be the key to unlock the captain’s mind.
As of now, the Rohit-Rahul pair appears to be a better choice. Or will India throw an Ishan Kishan into the mix?
Yuzvendra Chahal. Getty Images/Twitter
Pandya pinch
Hardik Pandya’s reputation, and not current form, got him selected for the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder, almost unstoppable with the bat when on song, has been terribly out of touch.
Before the IPL was postponed earlier this year, he averaged a pathetic 8.66 with the bat in six innings for the Mumbai Indians. It’s not that the IPL slump was one-off, with his numbers in matches before and after the IPL too being mediocre. In the home T20I series against England, Hardik scored 86 runs from four innings. More recently, in the white-ball series in Sri Lanka, he scored 19 from two ODI innings and a 10 in the only T20I he played.
With a surgery rendering him a jittery bowler as well, his position in the team looks less convincing.
Deepak Chahar. Getty Images/Twitter
Yet, the India selectors preferred Hardik over an in-form Shardul Thakur. The IPL is Hardik’s best chance to prove that the selectors right.
Spin in the tale
Overloaded. That’s the appropriate word to describe India’s spin contingent for the T20 World Cup. But, despite the strength in numbers, a few questions remain. The most important of them — was it right to drop Yuzvendra Chahal?
The return of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, though a surprise, looks to be a good move, especially in the absence of Washington Sundar.
Alongside Ashwin, the other spinners in the squad are Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy and of course Ravindra Jadeja.
Leg-spinner Chahar is young and talented and is faster off the wicket, precisely why he was selected ahead of Chahal.
RCB’s Chahal was not in great form in the first half of IPL 2021 taking just four wickets in seven matches. But last year, when the IPL was held in the UAE — which will host the T20 World Cup — he finished with 21 scalps from 15 games. Mumbai Indians’ Chahar had got 15 wickets from 15 outings.
What happens if Chahal outperforms Chahar in upcoming IPL matches? Will that put the younger spinner under pressure?
Short on pace?
With a spin-heavy line-up, India’s pace attack looks somewhat limited. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are some of the finest fast-bowlers, but are they enough?
Bumrah is a blessing in any format. But Shami is not known for his T20 bowling and Bhuvneshwar, one fears, is not the Bhuvneswar of old. Would it have been better if India had one more pacer, may be Deepak Chahar, instead of a spinner?
Chennai Super Kings’ Chahar is in the India reserves and he too would like to put his best foot forward in the remaining IPL matches just in case a late call-up happens.
For the record, despite all the talk of the UAE pitches being more suited for spinners, when the IPL was played in the Emirate last year, the top four in the bowling chart were all pacers.