India's record win streak highlights drastic change of T20 mindset
A look into how India have changed their mindset in T20 Cricket from conservative accumulation to intent-filled strokeplay.
India now hold the joint-highest record for most T20 wins in a row - 12, tied with Afghanistan and Romania. This comes on the back of a humiliating T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman, where they failed to reach even the semis. So how have India managed to change up their T20 game up in order to adapt with the modern requirement of the format?
After the T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma took over the reins of India’s T20 team (all 3 formats now). Over the years, India have been a very conservative T20 side, preferring to have wickets in hand in the final 6 overs, and then go hell for leather. This approach does not work anymore, and the Indians have changed it, especially with the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia approaching within 8 months.
Firstly, Rohit’s aggressive intent in the powerplay has helped India get off to a flyer, whether it be batting first or second. His strike rate has shifted from around 135, which was decent (and outdated!), to 150 for the last 2 years, which has benefited the team massively, ensuring they maximise the Powerplay, meaning it is easier to post 200+ totals more regularly, which in turn, will win you more games.
India were bogged down in the powerplay vs Pakistan and New Zealand at the T20 WC, so the new intent employed by Rohit represents the new positive mindset of the team. This is also a template Rohit enjoys at Mumbai Indians, his IPL team, and so it is no wonder he wishes to implement it in his national side too. He also backs the younger, inexperiences batsmen to do this, something that is great to see.
Secondly, the inclusion of free-flowing batsmen, such as Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have also helped to construct this new mindset. In T20, 80% of matches are won by the team with the highest boundary %. As we can see in this chart, Kishan and SKY are both strong boundary hitters and decent stabilisers. This is especially useful in the middle overs where SKY bats, meaning he can keep the scoring rate up. Surya strikes at 165.6 with an average of 39 - he has only played 14 games, but that is amazingly good for a player. His 4 to 6 ratio is decent: he hits 3.83 fours per six (IPL), and the best T20 players are around 1-2 fours per six. He is a perfect fit for India’s middle order, and has the ability to finish games, as he has done so many times - I fully expect him to be playing in Australia.
The discovery of Venkatesh Iyer has also been useful; there were originally doubts on him batting 6, especially as he struck at 128.5 in IPL 2021. However, he came out and struck at 164.1 on the international level, solving India’s problems for a pace-bowling all rounder whilst Hardik Pandya was injured. We can see above that Hardik has the best boundary % of both England and India’s T20 Squads, so I expect him to make a comeback to the Indian team for the 2022 WC, as he can be a real asset to the team.
A constant problem for India has remained the fact that there are too many anchor-type batsman, striking at 125. These batsmen often go on to play match-losing innings, and this is something we used to see very often from KL Rahul when he was at Punjab. In 2020, he made 670 runs, but at a strike rate of 129; in the same season, Ishan Kishan made 516 runs at a strike rate of 146, and SKY made 480 at a strike rate of 145, which is why Mumbai Indians won that year. KL Rahul is not the problem in India’s setup - for India, he strikes at 140+ quite consistently. I had my doubts on Shreyas Iyer, another anchor-type batsman, but Dravid and Co seemed to have got the message out to him to play aggressively, which was quite nice to see, as he rocked up over 200 runs in 3 games v Sri Lanka, at a strike rate of 174.53 - simply spectacular. That is the kind of middle order India need, and want. This is very similar to England - arguably the best T20 team in the world, and they all waste no time at the crease, apart from Dawid Malan. He was the world’s best T20 batsman in the ICC Rankings, but he is constantly doubted for his position in the England team, because he is a slow starter, and England cannot afford to have that, but back to India now.
The problem affecting India comes in the form of Virat Kohli. These stats show he was simply phenomenal from 2014 - 2017, and now, he seems to have lost his touch. Kohli is a no.3, so he usually comes in to play the middle overs, and plays spin often. Kohli, since 2018, strikes at 113 v spin and 127 v pace in overs 8 - 15. Once he is settled, he is very destructive in the last 4 overs, but the problem is, what if he gets out before then? He will have ended up making 30 off 25, wasted 25 balls, and not have been able to kick on. He struggles to rotate the strike vs spin in the middle overs, building pressure - he strikes at 102 v spin since January 2020, with 6 dismissals. He strikes at 105 v spin in the IPL, with 5 dismissals.
We can tell the issue is not just intent - he can't face spin as well as he did. No doubt, he is the best anchor in the world, and a very strong rotator of strike, which will come well for Australia, with big pitches, but for a team like India’s depth and resources, they do not necessarily need that anchor.
To play Kohli, India should pick a lot of intent-filled players around him for it to be a successful strategy, in my opinion, such as SKY, Kishan and Venkatesh Iyer. Rohit’s aggressive intent-filled approach in the powerplay is also very beneficial, much like how Buttler does it for England.
Well, thanks all for reading, I hope to catch up with you again soon. Please do let me know of any questions you have in the comments below.
Can u make a newletter about every IPL team? I think first u can review every team's auction.