T20 World Cup 2022: “There’s a buzz about this Indian team despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja” – Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has shed his views on the prospects of the Indian cricket team at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

He feels there is a buzz about the Men in Blue doing well in the tournament despite the absence of star injured players Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also mentioned that India have been doing well in bilateral matches, but it’s the multi-team events where they fumble. In his mid-day column, Gavaskar wrote:

“With a terrific blend of youth and experience, there’s optimism among Indian cricket fans that the Cup should be coming home. There’s a buzz about this Indian team despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.”

He added:

“India’s performance in the white ball bilaterals has always been good, be it at home or overseas, but it’s in the multilateral events that they have been stumbling.”

It is worth mentioning that India crashed out of the Super 4 stage in the recently concluded Asia Cup. They also bowed out of the 2021 T20 World Cup from the group stage in the UAE.

The Men in Blue are yet to win an ICC trophy since the Champions Trophy in 2013.

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“If you fail to prepare then prepare to fail”- Sunil Gavaskar on India’s preparation for T20 World Cup

Gavaskar feels that India have landed in Australia three weeks ahead of the T20 World Cup and have had good preparations.

The Men in Blue played a couple of T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home. The Men in Blue also trained in Perth for a brief period, where they played a couple of warm-up matches against Western Australia XI.

The cricketer-turned-commentator wrote:

“One thing for sure. If the Indian team does not win the ICC T20 World Cup, it won’t be for lack of preparation. Not only have they gone to Australia almost three weeks before their first game of the tournament, they are also playing practice games against good sides that should get them ready for the tournament.”

He added:

“The old saying, ‘if you fail to prepare then prepare to fail’ will not apply to this Indian team as, apart from these games in Australia, they also played six T20 matches at home and won four out of those to show that they are tuning in nicely for the big event.”

India also played a warm-up match against Australia in Brisbane on Monday (October 17), where they won by six runs.

They are also scheduled to play another warm-up fixture against New Zealand on Wednesday, October 19.

Rohit Sharma and Co. will finally begin their Super 12 campaign at the T20 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23.