Holders India will be overwhelming favorites to win the T20 World Cup at home, but coach Gautam Gambhir will be under close scrutiny due to the pressure of almost a billion fans.
On Saturday, India, under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, will take on the United States at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. It will round off the tournament’s tenth edition’s opening day, which has been tainted by a tumultuous build-up.
Citing security concerns, Bangladesh declined to play in India last month and was expelled, with Scotland taking their place. In response to Bangladesh’s ouster, the Pakistani authorities this week forbade its team from playing India in Group A on February 15 in Colombo.
Although the boycott has deprived the group stage of the most intense match and lucrative show, India is still in a strong position to win the group. If Pakistan doesn’t make a mistake against the Netherlands, Namibia, or the USA, who comprise the five-team group, they should also advance to the Super Eights in second place.
With a recent 4-1 victory over New Zealand, top-ranked India solidified their status as tournament favorites and won their eighth straight T20 bilateral series. However, home losses in other formats have jeopardized Gambhir’s prominent position.
Last year, South Africa defeated India 2-0 in a Test series, while New Zealand won an ODI series 2-1. After winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, Gambhir, 44, took over as coach from Rahul Dravid. Since then, he has lost 10 of his 19 Test matches.
Speculation is if India lose the 20-team competition, the former batsman and World Cup winner might lose his position.
It will be India’s first T20 World Cup since Virat Kohli and former skipper Rohit Sharma retired after the team’s 2024 final victory in Barbados. No team has ever won back-to-back titles, thus India will need to break the record to win it again. Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the trophy in the inaugural edition in Johannesburg in 2007.
The swashbuckling Abhishek Sharma, who has a devastating strike rate of over 194, has taken Rohit’s place as the daring opener. The left-hander, 25, is playing well. Against New Zealand, he hit India’s second-fastest fifty off just 14 balls.
Ishan Kishan’s return has given the batting order more muscle, and captain Suryakumar overcame a batting slump with three half-centuries in a single series.
Medium-pacer Harshit Rana is a new asset for the pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. The seam attack is composed of Bumrah, Rana, and Arshdeep Singh, while the all-rounders are Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya.
Batsman Tilak Varma proved his fitness in the warm-up match against USA on Monday and spinner Washington Sundar is also likely to be fit despite his injury.
