Winning the inaugural T20 World Cup back in 2007 was not a fluke as many did consider. From there on in the coming years the team won the Champion’s Trophy, the 2011 World Cup and silenced the critics. The Indian team has transformed itself under M S Dhoni and has become one of the top teams in world cricket, mind you consistently.

The success of the T20 format brought the IPL phenomenon in India and since T20 has part and parcel of Indian cricket. With immense IPL experience, the Men in Blue will enter the tournament as clear favourites as they are a tough team to beat in subcontinental conditions. A look at the current squad will make the opponents sweat, it is how strong this team is. The batting is strong as ever with batsman scoring plenty of runs in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma has been in the form of his life and it seems that he has finally found his ‘talent’ which the commentators repeatedly criticised him for. His partner Shikhar Dhawan has had his ups and downs but his innings of 60 in the Asia Cup final would have given his confidence a boost.

At No. 3, Kohli is such an accomplished man that no one seems to be in his class. Happy to accept challenges, he is the master of chases, his record shows it. Raina is again a batsman with huge amount of IPL experience up his belt. Yuvraj, Rahane and Dhoni provide a stable middle order. Dhoni, the finisher has kept his cool and has successfully led India to new heights through his leadership. Jadeja is another valuable asset in the team and contributions with both bat and ball have been noteworthy. His fielding is exceptional as it is for Raina and Rahane. Ravi Shastri has mentored the team really well. The only worry that must be at the back of their mind is to avoid a batting collapse.

Nehra has made a good comeback into international cricket, looking to pick up wickets. Experienced Harbhajan and Ashwin are in the side to stop the flow of runs in the middle overs. Death bowling has been an area of concern for India, though Bumrah has been bowling the Yorkers well and restricted the opponents. It will be interesting to see another all-rounder Pawan Negi who has been included in the squad.

Squad: MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Mohd Shami, Pawan Negi