India go into the T20 World Cup not just as the hosts of the event but the favourites to win it as well and that brings with it a different kind of pressure. The inaugural champions are in good form having won the Asia Cup recently and they will be expected to make it a tournament double here.
Form
India’s T20 form this year has been exceptionally good. They have been to Australia and won all three matches and then saw off Sri Lanka 2-1 after an indifferent start on a green pitch and then they cruised through the Asia Cup. They’re the team to beat.
With a powerful batting line up which includes one of the most secure top threes in the tournament and a spin friendly attack combined with good death bowling it is hard to see a weakness in the Indians. They just have to guard against complacency and peak in the knockout stages.
Key men
Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world in 20 over cricket. His 52.61 T20I average is beyond ridiculous but it isn’t a surprise because he can score all around the wicket and is equally adept playing seam as he is spin. If India go well you would expect Kohli to be putting up plenty of runs.
Ravi Ashwin is probably the best spinner in the world in these conditions. No matter how many times batsmen get to face him either in the Indian Premier League or internationally they still don’t seem to be able to pick him and those who can pick him still find it hard to score against him. He’ll be a star of the tournament.
Fixtures
Tues Mar 15 – Super 10 Group 2: India vs New Zealand (Nagpur)
Sat Mar 19 – Super 10 Group 2: India vs Pakistan (Kolkata)
Wed Mar 23 – Super 10 Group 2: India vs Bangladesh (Bangalore)
Sun Mar 27 – Super 10 Group 2: India vs Australia (Mohali)
Stats
Overall T20I record: P68 W41 L25 T1 NR1
Last 10 results (most recent last): WWLWWWWWWW
Record vs group opponents:
Vs Australia: P12 W8 L4
Vs Bangladesh: P4 W4 L0
Vs New Zealand: P4 W0 L4
Vs Pakistan: P7 W5 L1 T1
Record batting first: P35 W19 L14 T1 NR1
Record batting second: P33 W22 L11
Odds
Tournament odds: 9/4 (Bwin)
Group 2 odds: 5/4 (General)
Team bets
I think Ravi Ashwin will be the top India bowler in this tournament but in all honesty I think the prices are about right but one person who does look overpriced comes in the top batsman market.
That person is Shikhar Dhawan who is 4/1 to be India’s top tournament batsman. That looks a little bit too big to me. I accept Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are exceptional players but Sharma likes the ball to come on a bit. We’ve seen him get out a few times when the ball has stuck in the pitch and Virat Kohli will have a down trend at some point.
I don’t think anyone below those three in the batting line up will get enough of a go to be competitive in this tournament so that leaves me with Dhawan.
The left hander showed he is in decent touch when he made 70 or so in a warm up match over the weekend and when he is on song he is impossible to bowl to with his array of shots. I suspect he’ll really enjoy these conditions. He top scored for India in the recent T20 series against Sri Lanka in these conditions and is a big price to do it in this tournament for them too.
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