Image Credit- AFP
There would be a personal element to it if, as
predicted, Rohit Sharma takes over from Rahul Dravid as the captain of the
Indian cricket team till the T20 World Cup in June. Perhaps this will be the
captain and coach’s last shot at a world championship. After winning ten
straight games to reach the 2023 ODI World Cup final, they might have left with
their heads held high, if not on the highest of peaks, but once the offer was
made, there probably would have been a desire to try to wrap things up.
In all fairness, Rohit and Dravid have a difficult
mission ahead of them, which is presumably why they were asked to continue in
the first place. It indicates a lack of preparation on the part of the
decision-makers, who did not consider a succession plan until four days after
the World Cup final and did not ask the present leaders if they wanted to stay.
After realising they needed to start preparing for a
T20 World Cup, they found they had thrown everything into the ODI World Cup
basket. Dravid and Rohit must be aware of the danger this poses to their
legacy, right? India doesn’t lag behind, but they also don’t dominate the T20
format the way they do in Tests and ODIs. In ODIs, they are the team to beat at
full strength, as seen during the World Cup. While India themselves continue to
be competitive wherever they visit, it still appears that a long time will pass
before any side can threaten to take a home series against them in Test
cricket. Even when they are playing at their best in T20Is, they are, well, at
the top of the mid card.
A couple of structural problems exist with the XI’s
makeup. India is the largest cricket country and home to the biggest T20
league, but they don’t generate enough all-rounders to offer them the kind of
depth that lets them play freely. When batting against spin, one of their two
all-rounders is prone to injuries, while the other is simple to contain.
The other problem is that most of India’s top-order
batsmen in Twenty20 crickets set themselves up to bat for the duration of an
innings. For batters who hit out of character in the middle order, there is not
enough internal reward, not enough external recognition, and therefore not
enough safety net to fail.
The decision to ask Rohit to continue seems to have as
much to do with his captaincy as it does with his improved form in the ODI
World Cup, which finally matched the excellent intent he has been displaying
over the last two years. Hardik Pandya is Rohit’s likely successor as captain,
although he is prone to injuries. This raises another question: can India
afford to make the controversial decision to keep one player and bench the
other if they believe they need a more vibrant No. 3 than Virat Kohli?
The fact that the tournament’s conditions—which are
set to take place in the USA and the West Indies—are mainly unknown would
likely provide India with a somewhat more even playing field. The fact that
form and momentum are less important in T20 cricket than they are in other
formats adds to its allure. Any team can be upset or outwitted on any given
day.
Not that Dravid and Rohit, or whoever the captain is,
have much time to change the culture of T20 cricket in India, but if they can
succeed in making a few risky decisions, they may be able to set an example for
future generations.