Rohit Sharma.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: For all their dominance — both on and off the field — India have failed to win a single ICC event in over a decade with their last triumph coming in the Champions Trophy in 2013, a jinx that the Men In Blue hope to break in the Americas.
India have performed brilliantly in the league stages of ICC events, constantly raising over a billion hopes of adding an extra star to their jerseys. But somehow, be it the massive pressure of playing a knockout game or plain bad day, they’ve fumbled inexplicably at pivotal moments.
They lost in the semifinals of 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups and when they finally cracked that code by storming into the final of the 2023 last year at home, they were blown apart by a determined Australia in the final that left the players and support staff an emotional wreck.
They haven’t been that consistently exceptional in the T20 World Cups despite possessing the most competitive and financially lucrative league in the world but the inaugural champions (2007) have managed to reach the final in 2014 and semifinals in 2016 (at home) and 2022 in Australia. And just like ODI World Cups, they were beaten soundly on all three occasions.
The disappointments have extended to Tests as well with India losing in the finals of the two World Test Championships, a spot that is quite hard to earn in itself.
So the weight of cross that India will be carrying to the Americas will be immense, more so for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — two men who could possibly be playing in their last World Cup together.
Both of them, however, have been blessed with a well balanced team but the big problem for them will be the morning starts. For the sake of television back home, India will play all their group matches and Super 8 ties — if they qualify in the top two of Group A — in the morning local time.
Accustomed to mostly playing under lights, especially T20s, the morning starts will pose a different challenge but India have enough experience in their ranks to counter it. They have also picked four spinners primarily for this and if the wicket has some morning juice then the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj could exploit it.
The big worry though will be the form and mind-space of ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The vice-captain had a turbulent IPL, booed by fans of Mumbai Indians who were upset over him taking the captaincy from Rohit. Then there are rumours of a split with his wife Natasha Stankovic. It remains to be seen how Hardik overcomes this tough phase.
Pakistan, meanwhile, are the strong contenders from the group and they arrive buzzing with confidence. Ace batter Babar Azam is back leading the side after temporarily relinquishing the role post a disappointing ODI World Cup last year, there are couple of destructive batters and like always, possess an army of potent pacers who can set the pulses racing.
All eyes though will be on Mohammed Amir who will be making another comeback after having called it quits in 2020. Once touted as heir apparent to Wasim Akram, Amir's career has swung wildly like his deliveries and he’ll be raring to make his return count.
Ireland are the dark horses in the group while co-hosts United States and Canada need nothing less than a miracle to survive against the two Asian powerhouses.
Squads: India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
USA: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones, Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Nethralvakar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir.
Canada: Saad Bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva, Rishiv Joshi.