T20 World Cup: India’s Super 12 campaign reflects an uptick in performance, but will it be enough in semis?

New Zealand, England, Pakistan: these three teams were semi-finalists in the 2021 T20 World Cup held in the UAE. From 2021 to 2022, there is one change in that line-up of course. Australia made it to the semi-finals last year, while hosts India were kicked out. The tale has reversed this time in a similar way, with hosts Australia kicked out, while India have made it to the semi-finals.

It is quite a wonder for Australia given that they were the defending champions. In the past, we have seen Australian teams kick on from World Cup wins and go on a dominating run. Despite a blueprint in hand, the hosts have collapsed spectacularly this time around. Alternatively, India have had to change their blueprint after last year’s embarrassment, and in a way, it has worked.

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There wasn’t a need, per se, to wipe the slate clean. It was about making alterations – going back to the drawing board and working out the math. The captaincy changed hands, and a new coaching staff took over. Then, something happened that previously perhaps didn’t, and it made all the difference. Roles were pre-defined, and Team India worked as per a set template, a formula if one might say so.

Suryakumar Yadav is the focal point of this template. While India went to the 2021 tournament banking on the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, it is not the same anymore. Yes, this trio is still there. But Yadav is the one who carried the burden of demolishing opposition bowling attacks. He carries the mantle of scoring aggressively, whatever the situation might be, whatever the conditions might be, and whether he has a set platform or not. To say that he is the quintessential T20 batter wouldn’t be a lie.

On a raging, fiery wicket at Perth, Yadav was able to belt the South African attack when others had failed. On calmer wickets in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, he was able to do the same. The one time he failed, against Pakistan, India’s batting struggled. Rarely, a batter at number four has such an impact on a T20 team’s fortunes. And this is the big change from 2021 to 2022 – SKY is the torchbearer for this Indian T20I side.

Milestone