{"id":23386,"date":"2026-02-06T09:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T07:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/india-banking-that-form-and-familiarity-will-favour-in-t20-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:11","slug":"india-banking-that-form-and-familiarity-will-favour-in-t20-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/india-banking-that-form-and-familiarity-will-favour-in-t20-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"India banking that form, familiarity will favour in T20 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">Tournament co-hosts India are banking on form and familiarity with conditions as they seek to be the first team to successfully defend the Twenty20 World Cup title in a tournament which finds itself in the eye of a geopolitical storm.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>India\u2019s golden generation of cricketers, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, quit T20 Internationals immediately after their World Cup victory in the Caribbean two years ago in a coordinated exit that could have destabilised a lesser side.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>While the occasional banner pops up in the stands mentioning how much fans miss them in this format, the team look in safe hands.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Suryakumar Yadav, who led the side in a triumphant Asia Cup campaign last year, has settled in as captain and the world\u2019s top-ranked T20 side have found new pillars. Opener Abhishek Sharma and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy lead the batters\u2019 and bowlers\u2019 charts respectively.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Boasting an explosive batting line-up and a clinical attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, India sent an ominous signal with their victory in the recent home series against New Zealand.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Twice champions England looked in strong form as they whitewashed Sri Lanka in the recent T20 series in spin-friendly conditions.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>In Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, they have arguably the most lethal opening pair in this format, complemented by skipper Harry Brook\u2019s six-hitting prowess.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>England have gambled on Jofra Archer\u2019s fitness by retaining the speedster and spinner Adil Rashid will play a key role in conditions conducive to his craft.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Perennial contenders Australia arrived with positives as well as uncertainties. Mitchell Marsh fronts a potent blend of experience and firepower in their batting order but fitness concerns linger over the pace attack.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>A combination of hamstring strain and an Achilles\u2019 problem kept Josh Hazlewood out of the Ashes series against England as well as the recent T20 series in Pakistan but Australia expect the fast bowler to be fit \u2013 even if not at the start of the tournament.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Pat Cummins has been ruled out, though, after failing to recover from a back injury, and Nathan Ellis also picked up a hamstring injury during the Big Bash League and was rested for the series against Pakistan.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>INJURY AND GEOPOLITICS<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>New Zealand also had to recalibrate their pace plans having lost the services of Adam Milne, who has been replaced by the towering Kyle Jamieson.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The Mitchell Santner-led side won the ODI series in India and the subsequent T20 series against the defending champions was a meaningful preparation ahead of their bid for a maiden World Cup title.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>South Africa, finalists two years ago, were also forced into late adjustments, replacing the injured Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira with Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, a move designed to preserve top-order stability while maintaining finishing power.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>At the other end of the spectrum, Italy will savour their World Cup debut, and being pitted against the game\u2019s traditional powerhouses in group matches could prove chastening for some of the less experienced teams.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Scotland have been drafted in to replace Bangladesh, who refused to tour India citing security concerns and demanded to play their matches in Sri Lanka instead.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The International Cricket Council (ICC) dismissed Bangladesh\u2019s safety concerns but geopolitical tensions are also threatening to rob the tournament of its biggest match.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Pakistan, irked by the ICC decision on Bangladesh, have decided to boycott the February 15 group stage match against India \u2013 pulling the plug on the tournament\u2019s most lucrative game on the broadcasting side.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16345,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-23386","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"While the occasional banner pops up in the stands mentioning how much fans miss them in this format, the team look in safe hands.","published_date":null,"news_description":"While the occasional banner pops up in the stands mentioning how much fans miss them in this format, the team look in safe hands.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26369,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23386\/revisions\/26369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}