World Cup Gamble: Did India Go All-In on Spin?

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes that India's overwhelming dependence on spinners might prove to be a costly gamble going into the T20 World Cup. The four spinners that India has chosen are all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Although Clarke acknowledged that India posed a serious danger to Australia's prospects of winning the Twenty20 World Cup, he also pointed out that India had taken a significant risk in choosing four spinners.

With their lineup, which is largely dependent on spin and quite different from Australia, I believe India has taken a chance. However, I believe that a significant factor in determining your success in the spin situations I have encountered in the Caribbean is your spin play style. Regarding who will win the World Cup, India poses the greatest threat to me, Clarke said ESPN.

Michael Clarke stated:

India must be the clear favorite for the World Cup based only on the quantity of cricket they have played and their excellent preparation. The players would be accustomed to it because, although the conditions differ from India, there are many parallels," he continued.

Following two months of fiercely contested night cricket, the Indian cricket team—minus Virat Kohli started getting ready for the T20 World Cup earlier this week, exercising in the morning in anticipation of the 10.30am kickoff times for all of its group stage matches. After RCB was eliminated from the IPL, Kohli took a leave of absence for personal business. It is likely that he will return to the team by Friday. However, following a lengthy travel, it is unclear if he will be able to participate in the one warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday.