The battle between the Allen-Seifert duo and Bumrah will be key

Will the Indian cricket team repeat history? Will it defeat history? No men’s team has won the ICC T20 World Cup back-to-back and no host nation has won the title in its own backyard. Standing against them and trying to prevent them from repeating and defeating history is New Zealand.

A team that has beaten India every single time in the T20 World Cup. A team that has beaten them in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.

A team that may not be big, as far as cricketing superstars are concerned, but almost always ends up in the knockout stages of an ICC tournament. A team that enjoys being away from the spotlight. A team that doesn’t fear any opponent.

The advantage of having been in India prior to the tournament was a smart move and that is paying dividends. The Kiwis got used to the format in the five-match T20I series. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert joined the team at some point and suddenly, New Zealand went from losing wickets in the PowerPlay to unleashing their power-hitting.

There have been some great innings in this World Cup, including the two brilliant ones from Sanju Samson’s blade, but it’s hard to think beyond the century off 33 deliveries by Allen. That opening partnership and their battle with Jasprit Bumrah is going to be the key when New Zealand decide whether to bat first or chase. Couple of areas where they can get better is the promotion of Daryl Mitchell in the batting order and the use of the fifth bowler.

India had a close shave against England after Jacob Bethell played an innings for the ages. Their batting looks good, as can be seen by the 250-plus runs they posted against England. It’s the bowling that is the worry, as England came within a whisker of overhauling the Indian total.

They have a problem with Varun Chakaravarthy being clobbered for runs from the Super Eight stage. He looks down on confidence. Will they take a bold call and include Kuldeep Yadav for the longer boundaries in Ahmedabad?

With Abhishek Sharma unable or unwilling to change his approach and holing out in the deep in the PowerPlay itself, will they push Ishan Kishan to open the batting?

If they do, it could go exactly as it was in the Asia Cup final last year, with Rinku Singh being in the spotlight in the crunch. ‘God’s Plan’, as the ink on his arm says.

Will the Indian cricket team repeat history? Will it defeat history? No men’s team has won the ICC T20 World Cup back-to-back and no host nation has won the title in its own backyard. Standing against them and trying to prevent them from repeating and defeating history is New Zealand.

A team that has beaten India every single time in the T20 World Cup. A team that has beaten them in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.

A team that may not be big, as far as cricketing superstars are concerned, but almost always ends up in the knockout stages of an ICC tournament. A team that enjoys being away from the spotlight. A team that doesn’t fear any opponent.

The advantage of having been in India prior to the tournament was a smart move and that is paying dividends. The Kiwis got used to the format in the five-match T20I series. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert joined the team at some point and suddenly, New Zealand went from losing wickets in the PowerPlay to unleashing their power-hitting.

There have been some great innings in this World Cup, including the two brilliant ones from Sanju Samson’s blade, but it’s hard to think beyond the century off 33 deliveries by Allen. That opening partnership and their battle with Jasprit Bumrah is going to be the key when New Zealand decide whether to bat first or chase. Couple of areas where they can get better is the promotion of Daryl Mitchell in the batting order and the use of the fifth bowler.

India had a close shave against England after Jacob Bethell played an innings for the ages. Their batting looks good, as can be seen by the 250-plus runs they posted against England. It’s the bowling that is the worry, as England came within a whisker of overhauling the Indian total.

They have a problem with Varun Chakaravarthy being clobbered for runs from the Super Eight stage. He looks down on confidence. Will they take a bold call and include Kuldeep Yadav for the longer boundaries in Ahmedabad?

With Abhishek Sharma unable or unwilling to change his approach and holing out in the deep in the PowerPlay itself, will they push Ishan Kishan to open the batting ?

If they do, it could go exactly as it was in the Asia Cup final last year, with Rinku Singh being in the spotlight in the crunch. ‘God’s Plan’, as the ink on his arm says.

(Professional Management Group).