ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Will India's future white-ball teams be more IPL performance-driven?

Ahead of the World Cup, coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma consistently spoke about playing a style of cricket that was aggressive and attacking in terms of their batting. 

And, to the credit of the team, they did manage to replicate this template in bilateral series. However, when it came to the World Cup, they resorted to their old ways. 

Gone was the aggressive intent from the get-go, and back was the old 'bat slow before exploding in the death overs' template the team had vowed to rid themselves of. 

Now, in all fairness, the conditions in Australia were not exactly conducive to stroke-making. Many teams needed help to get off to explosive starts and had to play smart rather than hard. 

However, India were one team that consistently looked at odds with the conditions. Indeed, the pitch at Adelaide did not have any demons – yet when India was batting, England's bowling looked extra threatening despite the fact they were doing little more than just getting the basics right. 

It begs whether the Indian team needs to focus more on moulding the national team in the image of their crown jewel – the Indian Premier League. 

It isn't a call to select players based purely on their performances in the franchise league. We saw that tactic fail in 2021, after all. 

The likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer and many more were drafted based on the IPL. 

They struggled and were soon phased out of the national scheme of things, which is harsh on the players yet not an entirely wrong call. 

No, the call for basing the national team more on the IPL comes from adopting the same aggressive template that all IPL franchises do.

The focus can be on bringing in players who look to play aggressive cricket consistently in the IPL. And to be fair, this template has shown results in the past. 

Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, and even Jasprit Bumrah shot to prominence based on their IPL showings – and, more recently, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Arshdeep Singh did the same. 

However, it is worth noting that most of these players needed to be tracked faster. They were evaluated and judged over long periods before getting the national call-up. 

And that is how it should be; there's no need to devalue the India cap by handing it out like confetti, and it should be reserved for players who show they deserve it. 

But it is impossible to ignore IPL showings, and it would be good to see players tested out in the league and encouraged to be aggressive – not just for their franchise, but the national teams too. 

In conclusion, it would serve the national team well to groom players in the IPL and use it as a testing ground – but at the same time, not treat it as the be-all and end-all.