The highly-anticipated ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is just a less than a week away. The much-awaited tournament is scheduled to be played from June 1 to 29 in the United States of America and the West Indies.
Team India are one of the biggest contenders for the title this year. The Rohit Sharma-led side is in Group A alongside Pakistan, USA, Canada and Ireland. India will be opening their campaign against Ireland on June 5. Having not won the T20 World Cup since 2007, the Men in Blue will be desperate to go all the way this year.
And while India do have a strong squad to win the competition, there is absolutely no denying that the team has a few weaknesses as well. So before the tournament gets underway later this week, we are taking a look at the strength and the weakness of the team along with the opportunities and threats.
India SWOT analysis for T20 World Cup 2024:
Strength for India in T20 World Cup 2024:
India’s strength in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will definitely be their strong batting order at the top. The presence of names such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav make India’s batting a formidable unit. Yashasvi Jaiswal will also be looking to make a big impact in his first senior ICC tournament.
All the four players scored one century each in the recently-concluded IPL 2024 and will be looking to hit the ground running in the World Cup as well. Kohli finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer and India will be banking on him again to lead the team’s charge with the bat.
Rohit did not have the best of outings in the IPL but the India skipper has ample experience to turn things around quickly. Suryakumar is currently the number one T20I batsman in the world and will be looking to live up to the reputation.
Weakness for India in T20 World Cup 2024:
One of Team India’s biggest weakness is the lack of depth in the bowling department especially the pace department. While Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best if not the best bowler in the world, his partners Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj have not really managed to deliver consistently in the shortest format of the game.
In the recently-concluded IPL, Arshdeep managed to pick up an impressive 19 wickets but had an economy-rate of more than 10. On the other hand, Siraj picked up 15 wickets with an economy-rate of over 9. Another fast-bowling option is Hardik Pandya who had a poor outing in the IPL as well. The absence of Mohammed Shami could cost India big in the T20 World Cup.
Another weakness for Team India could be the lack of quality or proven finishers. Most of India’s middle-order batters such as Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya batted in the top five in IPL 2024 and it will be interesting to see how they perform in the death overs in the World Cup.
Opportunities for India in T20 World Cup 2024:
The upcoming tournament will be a big opportunity for India’s middle-order batters to showcase their skill. The middle-order will have to play a big role if India are eyeing the World Cup and the batters could become instant heroes if they manage to do a good job.
The onus will be on the likes of Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya to deliver with the bat. No matter how strong the top-order is, the middle and the lower-order batters usually play a decisive role in deciding the outcome of the game.
Dube and Samson are gearing up for their first-ever T20 World Cup and will be looking to make a big impression. On the other hand, Pant will be playing his first game for Team India since December 2022. Pandya had a disastrous outing in the IPL and will be desperate to hit the ground running in the World Cup.
Threat for India in T20 World Cup 2024:
The threat for Team India is the psychological barrier to win the knockout games in ICC competitions. While India have thoroughly dominated the bilateral series as well as the group stages of the ICC tournaments in recent years, they have failed to get going in the knockout games.
Even in the last edition of the T20 World Cup, they suffered a crushing 10-wicket loss at the hands of eventual winners England. In 2021, they could not qualify for the semifinal while in 2016, they lost at the semifinal stage. In 2014, India lost the final.
During the same period, the Men in Blue lost at the semifinal stage in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup before losing the final in 2023. There will be a psychological pressure on the team in the T20 World Cup and they will have to overcome it in order to win their second T20 World Cup and first since 2007.
India squad for T20 World Cup 2024:
Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
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