World T20 2016: Batting in T20 – A Job of One-Man Army?

By: Dipak Mukherjea

If you look at the big picture, the idea of one-man army doesn’t fit well into cricket. Firstly, it’s a team sport. Secondly, a one-man army is, on the surface level, a person alone. But on a deeper level, it means that the person is alone and fighting against many other people.

But if you look at the recent exploits of Chris Gayle, Joe Root and Virat Kohli in the ongoing World T20 Championship games, they almost single-handedly won matches for their teams.

From Gayle to Kohli, who are also the IPL teammates, they were strong in their approach, powerful with their shots, instinctive, reasonable in their shot-selection, ruthless against bad deliveries and didn’t have the fear of getting dismissed. In short, their strength in the face of adversity suggested all the qualities of a one-man army.

So much so that it has now raised a question if only one batsman from a team is good enough to finish the job in T20s? Unlike the Tests and ODIs where single-handed batting shows can’t win you matches consistently, T20 can!

Just need one powerful man to stay till the end with support of a few of the teammates. Rest assured you will receive the best of results. Last but not least, it is also essential for a team to have that many good batsmen who can put their hands up in time of need!