India have some of the best Twenty20 players in their ranks. Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag are three of the biggest hitters in world cricket, meaning they are ideally suited to the format. Sehwag’s relatively poor record in Twenty20 cricket should be corrected in England.
Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan are also capable of scoring quickly in different ways, whilst the bowling is well-covered in all areas, with RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh likely to be key performers.
However, India’s main advantage over their rivals is their experience. All 15 members of their squad featured prominently in the recent Indian Premier League, meaning their techniques are well-grooved in Twenty20 cricket . The batsmen are used to the need to score quickly from the outset and the bowlers should have the necessary variations to hand.
The scale of this advantage can be measured by the number of IPL games each squad has played between them. India’s 15 players have featured in 390 IPL games over the last two years. South Africa have had 12 participants playing 190 matches and Sri Lanka 10 playing 157 matches.
The major teams with the least exposure to IPL cricket are England, with 18 matches spread between six players, and West Indies, who have had six players involved in 40 matches between them.
The pressurised, high-profile nature of the IPL is the perfect preparation for the World Twenty20, especially as it provides the participants with regular exposure to the best players in the world.
Anything can happen in Twenty20 cricket, but India have given themselves the best chance of being the ones to do it.
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