Indian team so far had a roller coaster ride in the ongoing T20 world cup in Australia which got off to a rocking start with a victory over arch-rivals Pakistan powered by Virat Kohli's brilliance. However, India were also handed their first defeat of the tournament against South Africa at the Perth expressway which clearly favored SA's pace battery. At this juncture in the tournament an analysis of India's tactical play becomes imperative.

Inflexibility in Team Composition:

Across the all 3 games India have made just one change in Playing XI despite playing in starkly different conditions. The pitches at Melbourne and Perth favor pace & bounce while the game against Netherlands supported spin. Indian team, however, went into all 3 matches with 2 spinners and 3 pacers with Hardik being the 4th pacer cum allrounder. In games against Pakistan and South Africa, the second spinner proved to be floatsam on pace-friendly tracks with Axar bowling only one over against Pakistan and Hooda not being made to bowl at all against South Africa. India could have instead be flexible & played an additional seamer on pace friendly tracks instead of a second spinner which would have further beefed up India's pace attack and could play 2 spinners at Sydney & Adelaide. India could have utilized Siraj's decent pace & bounce which really helps him in Australia or Harshal if they wanted a bowling allrounder who can bat a bit. It would have really helped India while defending a meagre total against South Africa which went down to the wire with Ashwin finding it difficult to bowl at death giving away two sixes in the 18th over.

The All-Rounder Fallacy:

The selection of all-rounders vs specialists has triggered another debate. The selection of Deepak Hooda in place of Axar is surely up for debate. Hooda does not have real batting experience in Australian conditions & second spinner was just not required at Perth even against SA's lefties. Instead, India could strengthened pace attack with Siraj whose pace & bounce could have helped them by covering Ashwin's overs at death. India could instead also have beefed up batting by including Pant who is  way better in technique & batting experience in Australia while also adding a left-hander who could have resiliently battled SA pacers & added some additional runs to the total. The inclusion of Hooda was completely pointless as he was out for a duck & did not bowl. If India wanted an all-rounder only then they should have picked Harshal. Experience matters in Aus!

Left Handers in Line-Up:

India's batting line-up has all right handers with only Axar playing at No. 7. This one dimensional line-up makes it very easy for bowlers to consistently manage line & length unlike left-right combinations. Thus, including Pant makes a lot of sense.

DK vs. Pant Debate:

Pant has spearheaded & orchestrated multiple wins for India single-handedly in overseas conditions over the past half a decade while playing match winning knocks against Australia, South Africa & England. His experience of batting in overseas conditions & being a leftie become crucial for India. DK has great performances & experience in the sub-continent conditions but not in Australia. Also, DK is 1dimensional & can play last 2-3 overs and slog while batting first but while batting under pressure overseas when India has lost quick wickets it has so far seemed tough on him.

Finger Spinners vs Wrist Spinners:

The Australian conditions clearly favor wrist spinners and past has shown it with Kulcha having performed very well there. Chahal should be included & given the ball atleast as 2nd spinner while trusting India's strong batting line-up.

Verdict & the Road Ahead: Great teams play the situation & the key is flexibility. All the best to Team India!