Cricket News: Should India be troubled with any team in their group for the T20 World Cup?

Inaugural champions India had an excellent record in the tournament, having a win percentage of 63.6 by winning 21 of 33 games played at the T20 World Cup until 2020. With a bag full of expectations to make the 2021 edition memorable for skipper Virat Kohli, India left no stone unturned. However, Pakistan defeated them for the first time in the opening clash of the World Cup 2021; New Zealand's dominance added to their misery in the next match. Thus, the fortunes didn't look to favour India's intention to win as Virat Kohli's stint as the skipper in the shortest format ended with disappointment. 

India will now get into the tournament under a different era of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. The duo had recently defeated England in both the white ball series on English soil to announce their terrific form as a team. For this year's ICC T20 World Cup team, India is placed in the second group with Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Africa.

India: the most dominating team in group 2

India has dominated all these fellow teams in the T20 world cup since its inception. Of the six clashes between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, Pakistan registered their first win in T20 World Cup 2021 with a 10-wicket dominating win. The remaining five matches were won by team India. The current form of the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team could also be a strong challenge for the Indian side this year. South Africa last clashed with India in the 2013-14 world cup semi-final, where India defeated them by six wickets. India also has a dominating record of winning 4 of the five matches with them in the World Cup and has a slight upper hand in the upcoming tour. The only factor that can add challenge for India against Proteas is David Miller's and Aiden Markram's wicket in the middle-order as they both are in terrific form. The third competitor Bangladesh has never been able to defeat India in the World Cup. But they did have a thrilling encounter in the 2016 World Cup, where India managed to win by one run.

Is India ready with big guns?

Given the solid track record, and the current team strength with the likelihood of inclusion of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and many more, it doesn't sound difficult for India to qualify for the knockouts. 

"India's pace attack depth in T20 cricket is exceptional. India is going to be tough to beat in the T20 World Cup," said Brad Hogg.

The biggest positive and yet a challenge for selectors will be to choose a playing XI from the exceptionally talented bench strength. Every newcomer and fringe player adds to the management's happy headache. In such a scenario, the only thing left is Virat Kohli's form because India's forgettable T20 World Cup in UAE resulted from middle-order failure. With no significant threat in the group stage, Virat Kohli's bat-smashing ball like before will be all India needs to reach closer to the World Cup title.

 Follow all of today's Cricket matches on our Live match Center