New Delhi [India], May 31 (ANI): Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke said that Team India has taken a huge risk with the spin-reliant squad they have picked for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and they are the favourites in the tournament because of the preparations they have done leading up to the competition.
The ICC T20 World Cup will be played in the West Indies and the USA from June 1 to 29. The Men in Blue will play against Bangladesh in their only warm-up game on June 1 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Speaking in ESPN’s Around the Wicket programme, Clarke said, “I think India has taken a risk with the squad they have picked – heavily reliant on spin, very different from Australia. But in the conditions that I have played in the Caribbean, I think how you play spin is going to be a huge part of whether you succeed or not. India is the biggest threat for me with regards to who is going to win the World Cup.”
“If you look at the favourites for the World Cup it has got to be India just because of the amount of cricket they have played, their preparation has been outstanding. Conditions are different to India but there are a lot of similarities so the players would be used to that,” the former Aussie skipper added.
Leading up to the tournament, India played a total of eight bilateral series against teams like New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Australia, Afghanistan, England, South Africa, Ireland and West Indies, winning seven of them. They only lost a series against West Indies 3-2. They also secured a gold medal in the cricket tournament at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Across all bilateral series since the team’s loss to England in the semifinals of T20 WC 2022 in Australia, India has played 24 games, winning 18 and losing just six.
Top performers for India during after T20 WC 2022:
-Suryakumar Yadav: 857 runs in 20 matches and 19 innings at an average of 53.56 and a strike rate of 161.39, with three centuries and five fifties, best score of 112*.
-Yashasvi Jaiswal: In 17 T20Is for India, Jaiswal scored 502 runs in 16 innings at an average of 33.46 and a strike rate of 161.93, with a century and four half-centuries. His best score was 100.
-Arshdeep Singh: Leading wicket-taker for India, with 33 wickets in 25 matches at an average of 23.09 and an economy rate of 9.10, with a best of 4/37.
-Kuldeep Yadav: 15 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 14.33 and an economy rate of 13.50, with a best of 5/17.
-Rinku Singh: 356 runs in 15 matches and 11 innings at an average of 89.00 and a strike rate of 176.24, with two half-centuries and best score of 69*.
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Meanwhile, the most-awaited blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan will take place on June 9. They will later play tournament co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) to wrap up their Group A matches.
In the tournament, India will be aiming to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then, India has reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, semifinal in 2015 and 2019, the title clash of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and 2023, T20 WC final in 2014, semifinals in 2016 and 2022 but failed to secure a big ICC trophy.
India will be aiming to win their first T20 WC title since they won the inaugural edition of the tournament back in 2007 in South Africa. In the last edition held in Australia in 2022, India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semifinals.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. (ANI)
