T20 World Cup after IPL, a threat for India: Played 3 tournaments so far, out of group stage all three times

Babar Azam played a shot to the right of long on off Mohammad Shami’s ball and made history by taking two runs. Pakistan won this T20 match played in Dubai on 24 October 2021 by 10 wickets against India. This was Pakistan’s first win over India in World Cup history.

This India-Pakistan match took place just four days after the end of IPL that year. Not only did India lose in this, it also lost to New Zealand in the next match. Due to these two defeats, Team India was eliminated from the group stage of that tournament.

Pakistan batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan congratulate each other after winning against India in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Now let’s return to 2024. IPL ended on 26 May and the T20 World Cup is starting 6 days after that. Is India facing the same threat this time as in 2021? To understand this, we will know when the Indian team has entered the T20 World Cup immediately after the end of IPL and what happened to the team on those occasions.

Negative impact on T20 World Cup mission
This is the fourth time that the Indian team will play in the T20 World Cup within two weeks of the end of the IPL season. The three previous occasions were not pleasant for India. The team played the T20 World Cup only 6 to 12 days after the IPL in 2009, 2010 and 2021. On all three occasions, the team could not even cross the group stage. On the first two occasions, MS Dhoni was the captain, while in 2021, for the last time, the team could not cross the group stage under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

Positive impact on ICC’s ODI tournament
Even though the Indian team may not perform well in the T20 World Cup right after the IPL, the effect is just the opposite in the ODI tournament. Since 2008, the Indian team has played in an ODI ICC tournament three times after the IPL and all three times the team’s performance has been good.

Team India won the 2013 Champions Trophy after the IPL ended and was runner-up in the 2017 Champions Trophy. The team also played in the 2019 ODI World Cup after the IPL, where the team reached the semi-finals.

Also lost a WTC final right after IPL
India played the final of the World Test Championship just 8 days after the IPL final in 2023. The Indian players, who were tired in the 2-month long tournament, could not pose any challenge to Australia. Due to which the team lost by 209 runs and had to be content with becoming the runner-up for the second consecutive time.

Also lost series to Pakistan-Bangladesh
Team India gets less success in bilateral and tri-series right after IPL. The team played 9 series after IPL, won 5, lost 3 and also played one draw. The team was defeated by Pakistan in the final of the tri-series in 2008. Bangladesh defeated the team in ODI series in 2015 and Australia in 2020. The T20 series against South Africa in 2022 was also drawn 2-2.

After the advent of IPL, India has achieved success only twice…

India has lost 5 finals since 2008
It would not have been good for India to play ICC’s T20 tournament right after IPL but even after the inception of IPL in 2008, India has not been able to get much overall success.

Team India played 16 ICC tournaments from 2008 to 2024, the team reached the finals 7 times and could win the title only 2 times. The team was out of the semi-finals 4 times, while 5 times it could not even cross the group stage. 2 successes were achieved in ODI tournaments, in 2011 the team won the ODI World Cup at home, while in 2013 the team won the Champions Trophy in England.

Team India has been runner-up 5 times in 7 finals. Sri Lanka defeated them in the 2014 T20 World Cup. Pakistan defeated them in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Australia defeated them in the 2023 ODI World Cup. New Zealand defeated them in the 2021 World Test Championship final and Australia defeated them in the 2023 World Test Championship final. That is, after the IPL, India has started the process of reaching the knockouts but winning the title is still far away.

There are 2 reasons why playing an ICC tournament right after the IPL is problematic…

1. You don’t get time to prepare
In IPL, Indian players play with their respective teams with different strategies and different training process. All the players reach the venue for the ICC tournament right after the IPL. Where very little time is available for team bonding and preparation.

By the time the players start bonding, strategy and training, it is too late and the team’s momentum goes towards defeat. After the defeat against Australia in the WTC final in 2023, Indian captain Rohit Sharma also said that they got very little time to prepare. 20-25 days of practice was needed before such a big match.

2. Players get tired
IPL is a tournament that lasts for 2 months, most of the players of Team India play in it. It is difficult for the players to play another tournament right after playing continuously for 2 months. Because the players are mentally and physically tired.

This time too, some players including captain Rohit Sharma left for America on 25 May. The IPL final was held on 26 May, so the rest of the players left India on 27 and 28 May. All 15 players included in the World Cup squad played IPL. Not only this, 4 reserve players were also busy playing IPL. 7 out of 19 players remained a part of the tournament till the playoffs.

Harbharjan Singh also admitted that players get tired
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh had told Bhaskar recently, IPL is a very tiring tournament. The fatigue of this league will definitely be visible on the players in the World Cup. During IPL, players get tired not only from the matches but also from travelling.

Harbhajan said, players get tired mentally and physically, so players should consider playing the T20 World Cup as a part of IPL. He further said, nothing is bigger than the World Cup, so forget your tiredness and give your best.

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Graphics- Kunal Sharma

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