Indian Team

The eyes of one billion people will be on the Indian team in South Africa as arguably the world’s most passionate cricketing nation hopes for national pride to be restored following its desperately disappointing CWC 2007 campaign.

A sole win over Bermuda was all India had to show for its efforts in the Caribbean, with defeats to both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka dumping the side out in the first round of the competition.However, there is no doubting the side’s ability with both bat and ball, although it will need to find early form in the ICC World Twenty20 with the draw pitching India against Pakistan in the group stages.

India’s batting line-up is looking a little less impressive than usual without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, the leading ODI run scorer of all time, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, but there are few more spectacular and destructive hitters than captain Mahendra Dhoni, and the new faces in the team will all be looking to make a lasting impact.

The all round abilities of Yuvraj Singh, which saw him nominated for the ICC ODI Player of the Year 2006, will be vital to his team, while in terms of bowling, much pressure will fall on the likes of Ajit Ajarkar and Irfan Pathan, particularly as recent Test centurion Anil Kumble, the leading Indian ODI wicket taker of all time with 337 wickets, retired from the one day game at the end of the CWC 2007.

India was the last ICC full member to debut in Twenty20 Internationals and made an instant impact with a thrilling six-wicket victory over South Africa in Johannesburg, with the winning runs coming off the penultimate ball of the innings.

An unbeaten 31 from Dinesh Karthik, which clinched him the man of the match award, sealed the match for his team with his last-over six proving decisive in a game which saw India needing nine off the final over to win.

With its early CWC exit meaning that a number of leading international players had an unexpected opportunity to take part in their domestic Twenty20 competition, added to the experience gained by players on the English county circuit, and the confidence gained by a recent Test series win over England, India will be one of the favourites for the event.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Joginder Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Robin Uthappa.