India's T20 approach lacks vital dash of madness

The obvious answer (or excuse) would be that India aren't playing their best team. They are resting many players and this squad, as such, is probably second or third string. But is that reason enough?

Another reason could be what India skipper Hardik Pandya said in the post-match conference on Sunday.

"It is what it is," he said. "In the current situation, we have to play with seven batters and trust them to score maximum runs. I have always believed that bowlers win you games. If your batters are having a good day, you don't need much batting beyond one point.

"We need to figure out how we strengthen our No. 8, 9 and 10 as well if we need them to chip in with five-ten runs, though they did that today. We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance, but at the same point batters need to take more responsibility."

That in turn brings us to the critical point: "Batters need to take more responsibility."

Intent is the key

Now, what does that mean in a T20 sense? Does that mean they need to score more runs or does that mean they need to do what Nicholas Pooran (67 off 40 balls) did? Or does that simply mean they need more batters?

For the longest time, batters have been evaluated according to specific parameters. How much time do they have, how often do they middle the ball, can they hit the good balls, is their shot selection good, do they have the gift of timing... that is how we have recognised greatness.

But all of that goes out of the window when we are talking about T20 cricket because the most important thing here is intent. All the above parameters still apply but only if they get you the runs. A good, well-timed, well-judged shot that finds the fielder is nothing more than a wasted ball.

For a while now, India have been trying to change their approach in T20Is, but as the matches against West Indies are showing, that change requires a dash of madness as well. The kind that Pooran has shown in the two matches, the kind that Tilak Varma showed in the first match and the kind that very few Indian batters show regularly. It might even seem rash but it is the need of the hour.

Since January 2022, only Suryakumar Yadav has a strike rate in excess of 142. Every other regular Indian batter including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli just doesn't cut it (see graphic). If that is indeed the case, then it might as well make sense to go not with batters who fulfil the old pedigree requirement but choose the ones who get the job done.

Rinku Singh needs a proper run as does Rahul Tewatia. One might argue that they are limited batters (compared to some more illustrious names) but at the same time, they know exactly what they need to do for the team.

We've seen teams in IPL like Gujarat Titans, which is also led by Pandya, do this exceedingly well. Back a player and make it work. Shubman Gill, David Miller and Tewatia are all examples of that. But the same hasn't entirely worked in the international game because too often the focus is also to try and secure a permanent place in the team.

Even now, so many of India's established T20 batters have a strike rate between 130-140 whereas the requirement might be somewhere closer to 150. That is, if India want to truly challenge for the crown.

During a recent event in Delhi, former India opener Virender Sehwag was asked how he felt when he played IPL in the very first season and his reply showed why playing for an IPL team and India is so different.

"My first thought was that I can't be dropped," Sehwag said.

In IPL, of course, there are fewer India players in each squad. So, the bigger names have almost guaranteed spots. That is not the case with India. You can be dropped, and quickly at that. The biggest challenge for the team management is convincing the players to play in a certain style regardless of the result. Do that often enough and things will start to fall in place. Selectors need to back the line of thought as well.

Too often in the recent past India got caught up in how they look rather than what they achieve. The 2024 T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and the United States and if the pitches are anything like what we have seen so far, India will need to have a proper game plan in place -- one that focuses not on pedigree but on results.