The big bang 2015 World Cup is over and now the focus shifts to the Indian Premier League (IPL). For India, this biggest T20 tournament of the world is significant for various reasons. One of them is to flesh out a tentative squad for the 2016 World T20 Championship, which India will be hosting for the first time.
It sounds as if it’s too early to talk about an event, which is nearly a year away. But as it turns out, IPL can become a deciding factor for the selection of the World T20 Indian team. That is because this tournament gives an opportunity for new stars to come into the limelight.
Their performances in IPL will indicate if they are good enough or not to represent India. With the team already on a look out for lower-order hitters, this tournament can throw up new options for captain MS Dhoni’s team.
Clearly from what it appears, the core will remain the same. However, there can be a few cosmetic changes if a few more match-winners come into come into reckoning. In fact, when the selectors picked the team for the 2013 Champions Trophy in England, it was based on the performances of the players in the IPL.
That time, it was easy for the selectors to draw a conclusion on whom to consider and whom to leave out because the Champions Trophy was right after the IPL season. The new selection committee, which will be appointed later this year in September, will not have that luxury. They will, probably bank on a T20 series at home before the big tournament is played.
India and Australia have broken the myth that the host nations cannot win big tournaments like the World Cups. So, next year’s World T20 Championship is a very good opportunity for India to bag another trophy on home soil. Though, out of five T20 Worlds, none of the host nations have won the tournament, but India can change it all like they did in the 2011 World Cup at home.
