A lot has been said and written since India's ten-wicket hammering by England in the T20 World Cup semi-final. India's timid approach in back-to-back T20I World Cups has made one thing clear – this team is far away from winning an ICC tournament. It has been nine years since MS Dhoni's team lifted the 2013 Champions Trophy. Since then, India went through a very conservative 'experimental' phase which lacked real experiments. The English brand of cricket has taken over the world. With a bit of luck and Ben Stokes, they are currently holders of the ODI and T20I World Cups. The question is do India really need to mimic the English way or should they just take a cue from the team that won the inaugural World T20 in 2007? Robin Uthappa's walk-down-the-park shot against Brett Lee, Yusuf Pathan starting his international career with a second ball six off Mohammad Asif, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's fearless approach in the Powerplay, who can forget Yuvraj Singh, a six-hitting machine, and a finisher in MS Dhoni. The then India team had all the ingredients the current set-up is looking for. Do we really need to go to the English approach, or can we just take a look back at the 'underdogs' of 2007? pic.twitter.com/iLutG7EfKk — BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2022 Change is the need of the hour, but when will it come? The three-match T20I series against New Zealand is a perfect drawing board for Indian cricket to revamp its strategy in the game's shortest format with an eye on the 2024 T20 World Cup. Explosive openers needed Shubman Gill, along with Ishan Kishan, will be Hardik Pandya's first-choice opening pair. Gill and Kishan are coming off a century each in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Gill scored a 55-ball 126 against Karnataka, while Kishan struck a 64-ball 102 against Odisha. Since India's debacle in Dubai, Kishan was tipped to be one of the openers; he featured in 15 T20Is, and scored three fifties but was left in the lurch once India's top three returned. Gill, on the other hand, is yet to make his T20I debut, and his career strike rate in the IPL is 125.25, which is certainly not what India need in their process to reboot. Just like KL Rahul, Gill also believes that strike-rates in T20 cricket are 'very, very overrated.' It will be interesting to see whether India will try Rishabh Pant as an opener, something that they must explore. It all starts tomorrow in @Wellington_NZ at @skystadium. Follow the India Tour LIVE in NZ with @sparknzsport + @TodayFM_nz and with @PrimeVideoIN in India. Tickets | #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/t99LCmX8D9 — BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 17, 2022 Batters who can bowl India's lack of an extra bowling option is another major factor why Virat Kohli (in 2021) and Rohit Sharma (in 2022) looked clueless during the partnerships of Babar-Rizwan and Buttler-Hales. MS Dhoni, who won three ICC trophies, always had options. In 2007, out of the XI that played against Pakistan in the final, eight could bowl. In 2011 and 2013, Dhoni had nine options. Indian cricket no longer has the luxury of having the likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Raina, who could all turn their arm over. In Hardik Pandya's team, apart from the captain, Deepak Hooda is the only batter who can bowl. A couple of years ago, Shreyas Iyer was identified as a leg-spin option, but he barely bowls. Those who have followed Shubman Gill can tell you how the Punjab lad used to boast about how he copied Saqlain Mushtaq’s action while watching his videos on YouTube. But he never took his bowling seriously. Did anyone say Captains' photoshoot? 📸 That's Some Entry! 😎 #TeamIndia | #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/TL8KMq5aGs — BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2022 Ahead of the series opener in Wellington, stand-in coach VVS Laxman said multi-dimensional players are the need of the hour in T20 cricket. "We need bowlers who can bat and batters who can bowl." Six-hitting middle-order batters In the absence of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav or Shreyas Iyer are likely to take the No. 3 position. In that case, India must open with Pant because, again, you can't have Gill as well as Iyer in the top three; their approach in T20s is more or less the same. Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson at 4,5, and 6 form a formidable middle order. The big question is, who will be India's finisher? Surprisingly with no Shardul Thakur (one of the reserves in the T20 World Cup) and Deepak Chahar in the T20I squad, India will either have to go for a batting all-rounder Deepak Hooda or a bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar. Hooda is a top-order batter with a T20I century against Ireland and is someone who likes spending time in the crease before taking off. On the other hand, Washington Sundar, a veteran of 31 T20Is, has a strike-rate of 146.87 but has batted only 11 times. Reunion of 'Kulcha' Laxman also hinted that this series could see the reunion of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as India aim for wickets in the middle overs. If India play both wrist-spinners, there will be only two slots for the seamers. With his exploits in the World Cup, Arshdeep Singh won't be warming the bench; he will be certain in the starting eleven. For the second seamer, the toss-up would be between Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel and Umran Malik.
