As India gets ready to clash with Ireland to start their campaign at the 2024 T20 World Cup in New York on Wednesday, the big question on everyone’s mind is the composition of the playing XI. Will Virat Kohli open with Rohit Sharma? Has Pant’s performance in the warm-up against Bangladesh put him ahead in the race with Sanju Samson? Is Shivam Dube a good choice to counter the left-arm orthodox in the middle-overs?
Let us try and answer some of these questions and look at the likely playing XI for India for their tournament opener on Wednesday.
Kohli likely to open with Rohit
Kohli was in brilliant form as an opener for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 17th edition of the IPL. He was the highest run-getter of the season with an aggregate of 741 runs, including a hundred and five fifties at a strike rate of 154.69 – so not only was he phenomenally consistent at the top of the order but also scored his runs at a fair clip. In fact, his scoring rate in 2024 was his highest ever in a single season of the IPL!
Kohli was quick off the blocks and did not consume precious deliveries in the powerplay to get his eye in. He had a strike rate of 161 off the first 10 deliveries through the tournament. Kohli maximized the fielding restrictions and hit a boundary every four deliveries inside the powerplay, scoring at a rate of 161.5 in the first 6 overs. He also upped his game against spin and his strike rate of 137 was his highest against the slower bowlers since 2017!
Given his form, it is unlikely that the think-tank would displace Kohli from the opening position. They would want to give their best batter the maximum opportunity to make an impact. Also, given Rohit’s indifferent form in the IPL and his high-risk, high-return attacking template at the top of the order in white-ball cricket, India will need some sort of stability from the other end – and there is no one better to take on that responsibility than King Kohli.
There is also a feeling that an opening combo of Kohli-Rohit’s experience and pedigree would send a strong statement to the opposition while intimidating their bowlers. Another indication that they might well start against Ireland on Wednesday was Yashasvi Jaiswal’s absence from the practice game against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Kohli has opened nine times for India and scored 400 runs at an average of 57.14 and strike rate of 161.29, including one ton and two fifties.
The challenge against slow left-arm orthodox
Despite his positive intent against spin this season in the IPL, a deep dive tells us that Kohli was still circumspect against slow left-arm orthodox (SLAO). His strike rate of 124.7 against their ilk was his lowest vs any type of bowling in the tournament. Kohli has a strike rate of just 109.6 against SLAO in all T20s since 2021. His numbers are similar in T20Is where the corresponding strike rate stands at 108.3 in the same time frame. Rohit has also struggled to up the ante against SLAO and had a strike rate of 120 against them in all T20 cricket since 2022.
Given their challenge against slow left-arm spin, it would be best for Kohli-Rohit to face them within the powerplay when the ball is hard and they can use the fielding restrictions and go aerial. Opposition teams will also hesitate to use too much spin in the first six overs as it’s a gamble which can easily backfire. Kohli might adopt the slog sweep – a shot not usually associated with him – but which he recently included in his repertoire in the IPL.
This will also allow India to play two left-handers in the middle-order – both well equipped to dominate the challenge of left-arm orthodox spin.
Dube at number 4 and Pant over Samson
Suryakumar Yadav should bat at number 3, allowing team India to play Dube at number 4 to counter not only the SLAO variety but also high-quality leg spin. Dube is one of the best batters against slow bowling in India and has a strike rate of 148.2 against SLAO and 163.9 against leg spin in all T20 cricket since 2022 – with newly laid pitches in New York and the unpredictability in bounce and pace in the wickets in the Caribbean, Dube’s counter-attacking play against spin could be decisive for India through the tournament.
Pant also has a fine record against the ball, coming in striking at 138.2 against SLAO and 141.2 against leg spin in the same time frame. The left-hander looked in ominous touch in the warm-up against Bangladesh, where he hammered 53 off 32 deliveries, including three sixes in a single over against Shakib Al Hasan!
However, Pant was sluggish against spin and had a strike rate of just 119.5 against the slower bowlers in the IPL. In comparison, Samson was more aggressive and hammered the spinners at a rate of 139.2. He was also quicker off the blocks, scoring 135.5 off the first 10 deliveries. Pant had a corresponding strike rate of 119.5.
It will be a close call for the number 5 position but Pant’s X-factor with the bat might just tilt the balance in his favour.
India may play KUL-CHA, Siraj might be left out
India will be tempted to play three spinners in the starting XI against Ireland. Given the slow, low and two-paced nature of wickets in America and the Caribbean, the famous pairing of KUL-CHA is likely to reunite and form a formidable trio with Ravindra Jadeja.
Spinners have returned with a bowling average of 24.14, strike rate of 19.7 and economy of 7.35 in T20Is in the Caribbean and USA since 2022. The corresponding average, strike rate and economy for pacers is 27.93, 18.7 and 8.96 – this suggests that the slower bowlers have been substantially more restrictive in these conditions in the last couple of years while also picking wickets regularly. Even in the 2023 CPL, they bagged 159 wickets at an average of 24.6 and economy rate of 7.58 whereas the pacers had an average of 27.83 and economy of 9.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are one of the most successful spin duos in white-ball history with a total of 155 wickets between them in T20I cricket. While Chahal has 96 wickets in 79 innings at a strike rate of 18.4, Kuldeep has bagged 59 wickets in just 34 appearances for India at a strike rate of 12.5 and economy of 6.7. They were in top form in the IPL, with 34 wickets between them at a strike rate of 17.8.
Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are expected to share the new ball, meaning that Mohammed Siraj will miss out on a place in the starting XI.
India’s likely XI vs Ireland in T20 World Cup:
1) Rohit Sharma
2) Virat Kohli
3) Suryakumar Yadav
4) Shivam Dube
5) Rishabh Pant
6) Hardik Pandya
7) Ravindra Jadeja
8) Yuzvendra Chahal
9) Jasprit Bumrah
10) Kuldeep Yadav
11) Arshdeep Singh