T20 World Cup 2022: Will India have a new T20 team after the World Cup?

Shastri, who has never really been afraid to voice his opinion on matters relating to the sport, said, “I see India having a new team after this World Cup.”

The comment can be interpreted in many different ways. Is impending defeat the only outcome on the way for India? Will wholesale changes be made to the set-up before the 2024 World Cup? And are experts not happy with India’s team composition going into the World Cup?

The first point hasn’t been said out loud, even though India’s preparations for the event have been mixed at best and, at worst, aren’t exactly inspiring a lot of confidence.

Yes, they won two bilateral T20I series against Australia and South Africa, both of whom are top sides and have world-class players in their ranks.

But India’s record in bilateral series has generally been excellent. It is the multi-nation tournaments where they have generally struggled.

And those struggles continued during the Asia Cup, where they failed to make it to the final in what was seen mainly as a two-team tournament between them and Pakistan.

Despite that, Shastri himself remains confident in the side. “I think this is as good a line-up as India has ever had in T20 cricket."

“With Surya (Yadav) at no. four, Hardik (Pandya) at no. five, and Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik at no. six it makes a massive difference as it allows the top order to play the way they are playing.”

As for any wholesale changes to the team, it seems unlikely. Yes, the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are getting up in age, but India’s squad isn’t ageing.

At most, there will be a few changes made here or there depending on which players move on or choose to move on from the format.

And as for concerns over team composition, Shastri only picked one area of concern as far as this current team is concerned – the fielding.

“One area that India will have to pick up and start right from the beginning is fielding. They need to work hard and get their A-game on the field when they step out (in the first game) against Pakistan."

“Those 15-20 runs that you save can make all the difference because otherwise every time you get out to bat, you need to get 15-20 runs extra.”

However, the composition is still being questioned. Who replaces Jasprit Bumrah in the squad – and the playing XI?

Will India play with two spinners in all games, or Will we see games where only Axar Patel plays, with Yuzvendra Chahal making way for an extra pacer?

Is there any way to play Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the same XI? And what about India’s woes in the death overs?

Shastri or other experts might not be explicitly spelling it out, but there are question marks aplenty over the team right now.

And, given that the team lost a practice match against a Western Australia XI, those questions seem no closer to being answered.