History might view 2024 as the year that the Indian men’s cricket team cracked the T20I game. After stumbling for several years while falling behind the curve, notably during the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, in 2024 India made up for lost time by visibly trying to bat the way other teams have been in the shortest format – by taking risks, adopting a more aggressive intent, and shedding their cloak of conservatism.
On Friday, India beat South Africa 3-1 to end 2024 with a 25-2 record, a run which has seen them win five bilateral T20I series and the T20 World Cup. That gives them the highest win percentage for any men’s T20I team in a calendar year, making it a most remarkable 2024 for India thanks to plenty of intent from the batting and some stellar work from the bowlers, led by the irresistible Arshdeep Singh (36 wickets), Ravi Bishnoi (22), Axar Patel (20), Varun Chakaravarthy (17), Hardik Pandya (16), Washington Sundar (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (15).
But what stood out was India’s collective willingness to take risks when batting. The results varied, but there is no overlooking the fact that hitting more sixes (every 12.19 deliveries) than ever before and trying to go for huge totals paid off for India. Along the way, they found centurions in Sanju Samson (three), Tilak Varma (two), Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Sharma. That is the most for any team in T20s during a year.
Better strike-rates led to more boundaries and bigger totals, facets that for too long had held India’s batting back (case in point, again, being the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups).
The signs were first there at the start of the year when India blanked Afghanistan 3-0. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Shivam Dube each batted with more freedom than usually associated at this level and Rohit, after two ducks, smacked eight sixes in his unbeaten 121 from 69 balls as 3-0 was completed.
Then India went to the World Cup in the USA and the West Indies and did not lose a single game en route to lifting the trophy. On a tough New York track, the bowlers did marvelously even though the batting, barring Rishabh Pant, struggled to adapt. When their campaign moved to the West Indies, most of India’s batsmen found the going easier and totals swelled.
It wasn’t a collective attempt at being aggressive, partly owing to the conditions, but you could see that the batsmen were trying. Most noticeable was Rohit’s stunning assault on Australia, smashing 92 off 41 deliveries with eight sixes. After brushing aside England in the semi-finals, India threatened to come undone against South Africa in the final. Kohli’s measured 76 helped the total towards 176, and then came the most epic of chokes from South Africa to hand India the trophy.
Not everyone was convinced that India could win the World Cup but win it they did thanks to their bowlers and a few standout batting efforts. Immediately after winning the prize that had eluded India since 2007, the trio of Rohit, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is.
The reset button was pressed. Suryakumar Yadav was made captain, fringe players were given opportunities and youngsters were backed to play as they wanted. A second-string team went to Zimbabwe and won 4-1. Suryakumar and other regulars returned and beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in a series where innovation and out-of-the-box thinking stood out, such as SKY bowling Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh and himself at the death.
Next up, Bangladesh were beaten 3-0 in a series in which India’s batsmen went hard at the ball. Nitish Reddy made heads turn with 74 off 34 balls. Rinku kept doing Rinku things. Abhishek didn’t get anything beyond 16 in an innings, but he was backed due to his intent. Samson was handed another chance despite getting two ducks in Sri Lanka, and in the third T20I against Bangladesh he struck 111 off 47 balls.
The same opening pair of Abhishek and Samson was used across four T20Is in South Africa, in a series which India won 3-1. Abhishek was backed despite scores of 7 and 4 and rewarded the management by hitting 50 off 43 and 36 off 18 in the next two games.
Samson started the tour with 107 off 50, then bagged two ducks and ended the series with 109* off 56. Varma, back in the side after a struggle with various injuries and marked his comeback with scores of 33 and 20. Then he asked his captain if he could bat at one-down to express himself, and later that evening SKY knocked on his hotel room door, popped his head in and told Tilak that he would bat at No 3 in the next game and that he just needed to express himself.
The result was Varma’s first hundred for India, a rollicking 107* off 56 balls as the team went up 2-1. That earned the youngster another shot at SKY’s usual batting slot and he then bashed 120* off 47 deliveries to help India win the series 3-1.
That final T20I in Johannesburg epitomized how this Indian team has taken to the format. They thumped 23 sixes on the way to a total of 283/1 courtesy a record partnership of 210 from 86 balls. The pitch had bounce in it, but India’s top order kept swinging. No bowler was spared. The runs flowed, and South Africa looked clueless. The hosts were blanked by 135 runs.
At the heart of the post-World Cup run of form has been SKY, who aged 34 has seen his batting returns diminish but his role as leader is unmistakable. How many senior cricketers, that too captains and ranked No 2 in T20Is, would readily give up their batting position for a 22-year-old? The mood in the dressing room seems to permeate from SKY giving the confidence to fringe players and rookies the space to express themselves, and clearly the confidence he has thus instilled in them has worked wonders.
In 2024, Indian cricket bid adieu to Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja while witnessing a new brigade by into the new approach. It lifts hopes of more to follow in 2025, with an eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup. It is a fascinating time to track this team’s progress in T20I cricket.
