India vs West Indies: Action down south, eyes down under

West Indies are the defending T20 World Cup champions—but that was back im 2016 and since then, they have gone though a good-bad-ugly-good again phase.

India’s preparations and planning for the T20 series against West Indies are all focussed on one thing: to get the team ready for the T20 World Cup next year in Australia. Virat Kohli knows only too well that limited overs status is evaluated in world cup cycles; after the disappointment at the ODI World Cup this year, the T20 World Cup is the next stage to try and stamp India’s supremacy.

India's Captain Virat Kohli gestures during a practice session. (PTI)

“Now heading into the World Cup, rankings are going to be irrelevant because in T20, anyone can win on the day,” Kohli said on the eve of the first T20 against West Indies. “We need to take our best team onto the field. I think our combination is getting stronger and stronger. We’ll probably be playing as close to the eleven we want in the World Cup as possible, for the remainder of the T20 games we have leading into the World Cup. I think our performances should improve drastically from here on in.”

West Indies are the defending T20 World Cup champions—but that was back im 2016 and since then, they have gone though a good-bad-ugly-good again phase. Their most successful T20 player, Kieron Pollard, is back in the squad, now as captain.

“Each and every time I step on a cricket field, not only going against India, but every time I step on the cricket field as a professional, you want to have personal pride,” Pollard said. “That’s something that I try to pride myself on. You have bad times and you have good times. Things have been going pretty decently for me and I just want to continue doing that.”

India have been utterly dominant at home this year, but the one hiccup came in a T20, where they lost a match to Bangladesh last month.

Kohli agreed there are areas that need improving. “I don’t think we’ve been very good while batting first in T20 cricket, and defending low totals as well,” he said. “So, those are two things that we really need to focus on.”

In the batting front, Shikhar Dhawan’s T20 strike rate has been a topic of debate and his injury opens up an opportunity for India to do give Rohit Sharma a more aggressive opening partner. KL Rahul has been on song, but not enjoyed the middle order so much. This series might be his opportunity to show what India has been missing. There could also have been a case for promoting Rishabh Pant at some stage, but Kohli dismissed the idea.

“Not really, in the Indian team if you look at the top three or four batsmen right now, (they are set positions),” he replied when asked about the idea of Pant opening. “In IPL you have eight teams. And you have a lot more players, who can play in lot more positions. You have to figure out who are the best guys to do the job at a particular position (for India).”

Pant has quickly become a divisive figure for Indian fans—the man donning Dhoni’s gloves and not quite there! Kohli offered a full defence of Pant. “We certainly believe in Rishabh’s ability,” he said. “When you say it’s the player’s responsibility to work hard, perform and do all those things, I agree. But I think it’s the collective responsibility of everyone around as well to give that player some space to do so. If he misses a chance or something, people can’t shout MS is in the stadium. It’s not respectful, if I have to put it that way. No player would like that to happen. If you’re playing in your own country, you should get support rather than always thinking what mistake is this guy going to make.”

Ironically, it’s been India’s support staff—from head coach Ravi Shastri to batting coach Vikram Rathore—whose comments suggested that the team management was losing patience with Pant.

“We know he (Pant) is a match winner and once he comes good you will see a different version of him,” Kohli said. “Which you’ve seen in the IPL already because he’s free, he’s relaxed there, he feels that there’s a lot more respect when it comes to his ability. I think he needs to feel that a bit more around him. He can’t be isolated to an extent that he gets nervous on the field.”

If the batting line-up has some space for tinkering, the bowling spots are up for audition too. Kohli suggested that Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar may form the backbone of the bowling unit for Australia.

“Bhuvi and Bumrah are experienced bowlers. They’ve been very consistent in T20 cricket. Deepak’s come in and bowled really well,” Kohli said. “Shami is coming back in. He’s bowling really well. We feel that if he gets into a rhythm and he specifically works on what’s required in T20 cricket, then he will be very, very useful in a place like Australia as well, especially with his ability to pick wickets with the new ball. And he has enough pace to execute yorkers. On wickets that assist him, he will be a very handy bowler.

“I think more or less three guys have made a place for themselves already.” He added. “It’s going to be healthy competition and interesting to see how it pans out.”

That puzzle will be complete when India identifies its spinners, and as things stand, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal appear frontrunners.

“Having two wrist spinners is a big advantage when you’re playing in Australia on big fields,” Kohli said. “There may be some games where both might play together but in T20 cricket, as I mentioned, it’s all about balance.”

But there is plenty of talent in the mix—Kohli spoke of Washington Sundar’s bowling utility with the new ball, and efforts to give Ravinder Jadeja more opportunities with his current batting form.

“You need to have six bowling options in T20 cricket, that’s the basic rule,” Kohli said. “You can’t go in with five, expecting everyone to bowl four good overs. It gets very difficult as a team after a while. I think that is the balance that we need to create.”