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How India’s UK-bound players performed in T20 league will have a bearing on their confidence in mega event
Ever since the Indian Premier League began in 2008, two ICC Cricket World Cup editions have gone by – 2011 and 2015. And, both of them preceded the cash-rich T20 league.
However, the upcoming Cricket World Cup will be the first quadrennial event that follows immediately after the IPL. While the two tournaments are of different formats, the players' form in the just-concluded T20 league will indicate the their mindset when they approach the 50-over premier global tournament.
While there have been cries that the form – or lack of it – in the T20 league should not have any bearing on the 50-over tournament, Rohit Sharma, the most successful IPL captain and the vice-captain of the Indian World Cup squad, said post the IPL triumph: "IPL is a big tournament and you can judge yourself where you are at before a big tournament like the World Cup."
If nothing else, the amount of runs and wickets one has from the most recent tournament going into the World Cup will only give the players the confidence and belief of doing well in the mega event.
The World Cup starting in 10 days is something that nobody wants to miss out on. Especially the batsmen.
Considering the kind of scores the England-Pakistan ODI series has seen with the home nation making a joke of their visitors' healthy 340 and above and chasing them with ease game after game, the batsmen across the eight other World Cup participating teams will only be licking their lips in anticipation.
It also gives hope for those who had a lean patch in the IPL, say a Kedar Jadhav or a Vijay Shankar, to shed their poor form and get amongst the runs.
As the World Cup squad was announced on April 15, all focus was on the No. 4 slot, which has been given to Vijay Shankar.
Though head coach Ravi Shastri maintains that the team and the positions are flexible with horses for courses being the policy, chief selector MSK Prasad stressed that Vijay Shankar "will be the No. 4 batsman to begin with".
Going by the form that Shankar had for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, he batted at No. 4 in three matches since being selected for his maiden World Cup and had dismal scores of 8, 26 and 7. And neither does his 244 runs at 20.33 in the entire tournament and a highest of 40* at No. 3 give one the confidence that he is the man for the crucial role.
For the record, in the whole of IPL, he batted four times at No. 4 with a highest of 35 in SRH's second match of tournament.
For one who has not batted at No. 4 in his nine ODIs but on whom the crucial No. 4 slot has been thrusted upon, at least for the early part of the World Cup, the 28-year-old from Tamil Nadu ought to have done better.
To add to that, his bowling did not make up for his below-par show with the bat. He bowled only eight overs in the whole of IPL 2019.
The 'three-dimensional cricketer' would mentally have to be strong enough to come out of the lean IPL patch and do something extraordinary in the two warm-ups (on May 25 against New Zealand and May 28 against Bangladesh) to impress the captain and the coach.
Of course, captain Virat Kohli has other options in KL Rahul and Jadhav for that position. While Rahul has been looked at as a reserve opener, the Karnataka right-handed batsman has done himself a world of good by amassing runs as opener for Kings XI Punjab and finishing second in the run-scorers list with 593 runs at 53.91 including a century and six fifties.
Such has been Rahul's form that he is confident of even filling the No. 4 slot, should he be given the chance.
But, the same cannot be said of Jadhav. The Chennai Super Kings player was woefully short of runs that the shoulder injury that forced him out of the last week of IPL may have been a blessing in disguise, lest his confidence be dented further. Jadhav is a far better player than his IPL 2019 figures of only a total of 162 at 18.00 and a highest of 58 in the early stages of the tournament suggest.
A fighter that the diminutive Maharashtra batsman is, Jadhav can be a match-winner in his own right and can raise his game several notches especially when batting in the company of the legend MS Dhoni and being guided by him in tense situations.
That the 34-year-old Jadhav has been declared fit for the World Cup, he will only focus on finding his form back. The flat tracks of England will only send him positive vibes when the team departs on Wednesday for United Kingdom.
While most of the other batsmen, right from openers Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni have been in glorious form and should take it into the World Cup, spare a thought for the No. 1 spinner in the team, Kuldeep Yadav.
Having faced the embarrassment of being dropped from the Kolkata Knight Riders for want of wickets, the 24-year-old left-arm wrist spinner managed only four wickets in nine matches at an average of 71.50 and an economy rate of 8.66.
The last he played in a competitive match was a month ago, on April 19. He went for 59 runs against Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore, a match in which he was singled out by Moeen Ali and was left in tears on the ground.
Yadav, though, has the confidence of his national captain Kohli and, by now, would have wiped his tears and shed his bad IPL dream and be rejuvenated going into this maiden World Cup.
His spin twin Yuzvendra Chahal, though, had better returns in terms of wickets and economy rate (18 sticks at 21.44 and 7.82 ER).
The pacers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – all were among wickets and will continue their rhythm into the World Cup, as also Hardik Pandya, who excelled with his big-hitting abilities for Mumbai Indians.
Like his MI captain Sharma said: "Before the IPL, if they weren't in great form, this is the time they can get back to form. Hardik is the best example. Before IPL, he didn't have a good time, was injured, and missed a few games as well. But he has been tremendous for us – both in batting and bowling."
Whatever the format, recent form will determine the players' performances in the upcoming one.
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