3 areas of focus for Team India ahead of Sri Lanka T20Is

Team India had an impressive run in the three-match T20I series against West Indies at home. They won all three matches to whitewash the Windies 3-0. In fact, the Men in Blue were unbeaten in the entire white-ball series against West Indies. Before the T20Is, they had also hammered the Caribbean side by a 3-0 margin in the one-dayers.

Speaking after the win, Team India skipper Rohit Sharma asserted that he was very happy with how things went. Commenting after the hosts triumphed in the final T20I on Sunday, Rohit said:

“Happy with the series. Pretty much got everything that we wanted. We do understand we are very young as a team.”

India’s next assignment is a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka to be played at home from February 24-27.

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Things Team India need to work on during the Sri Lanka T20Is

Despite remaining undefeated against West Indies, there are still a few key areas India need to tighten as they build a squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia. Take a look.

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#1 The missing opening push

Ishan Kishan struggled in the T20Is against West Indies. Pic: Getty Images

Team India have fallen way behind the other sides when it comes to exploiting the powerplay advantage in the first six overs. One of the key reasons behind this is the fact that they have not had a settled opening pair.

Once the think tank decided that Shikhar Dhawan was too slow for the T20I format, they tried out KL Rahul as an opening partner for Rohit. However, Rahul has had his fair share of injury problems of late and there is also a strong push for him to bat in the middle order.

In Rahul’s absence, Team India tried out Ishan Kishan at the top of the order against West Indies. But he looked completely out of sorts. Despite his best attempts to hit big strokes in the powerplay, the ball rarely met the middle of Kishan’s bat. Except the first T20I in which Rohit went berserk and smacked 40 in 19 balls, the hosts did not dominate at the start of the innings.

With Ruturaj Gaikwad also in the squad, it will be interesting to see if Team India play him as opener in all three T20Is against Sri Lanka ahead of Kishan. The Men in Blue had to bear serious consequences of being unable to get off to a good start with the bat in last year’s T20 World Cup. They cannot afford to repeat the mistake in Australia.

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#2 Middle-order muddle

Shreyas Iyer must make his chances count. Pic: ICC

In Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer, Team India seem to have found two dependable finishers in the T20I format, at least for now. Both were brilliant in the series against West Indies, adding those extra runs which made the difference between victory and defeat in the end. However, like the opening slots, the middle order, specifically No. 3 and No. 4, remain a concern.

With complete regard to Virat Kohli, while he has been crossing the 50-mark consistently in the T20I format, his pace of scoring has been slightly underwhelming. Starting from January 2021, the former India captain has had a strike rate of 131.89 in 12 matches.

In the two-year period before that (January 2019 to December 2020), he had a strike rate of 145.50 in 20 matches. The numbers tell a story in itself. Kohli, who has been rested for the Sri Lanka series, will have to up the ante when he returns.

Meanwhile, Team India are set to try out Shreyas Iyer at No. 3 in Kohli’s absence. Shreyas looked in sublime touch during his 16-ball 25 in the third T20I against West Indies. However, he will need to play bigger knocks to find a place in the middle order.

With no Rishabh Pant as well, it remains to be seen who bats at the crucial No. 4 position. Sanju Samson could be one of the possible candidates. India need to finalize these slots before it's too late.

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#3 Bhuvi or Siraj? The experience vs pace debate

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (left) and Mohammed Siraj. Pics: Getty Images

Prior to the West Indies series, there were calls to drop Bhuvneshwar Kumar and play Mohammed Siraj as the latter possesses extra pace. The key point of debate was that Bhuvneshwar and Deepak Chahar are similar bowlers and only one can go to the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, India backed Bhuvneshwar's experience against West Indies, and he delivered under pressure.

Chahar might get ruled out of the Sri Lanka series after limping off the field during the third T20I against West Indies. However, he is among the top contenders to be picked for the T20 World Cup if he is fit. Apart from his deadly swing bowling, his contributions with the bat might also come in handy.

And so it might come down to Bhuvi and Siraj yet again for one of the pace-bowling spots in the T20 World Cup. Both are expected to be on the flight to Australia but only one of them, if at all, can feature in the playing XI.

The Sri Lanka series might be an indicator of who will be the more trusted of the two going ahead. While Bhuvneshwar has proven skills even though he may not be at his best, Siraj has speed, aggression and an X-factor about him.

Bhuvi vs Siraj promises to be an intriguing battle within the contest as Team India have one eye on the T20 World Cup.