T20 World Cup 2022: India's Full Schedule, Past Performances, Chances, And Other Details

Rohit Sharma-led India will be eyeing their second title when they start their T20 World Cup 2022 journey against arch-rivals Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.

India and Pakistan are placed in the same Group 2 along with Bangladesh, South Africa while the other two teams will be the Group A runner up, and Group B winner.

Eight teams qualified directly to the main event of the marquee tournament while four teams will advance after playing the Round 1 of the tournament. There are eight teams in Round 1 that will compete for two spots in the Super 12 round.

Namibia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Netherlands will play in the Round 1 to advance to the next stage of the T20 World Cup.

India's recent performances in the home series against Australia and South Africa will boost their morale. The form of their top-four batters -- Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav -- is a boon for the side. The sublime touch of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya makes them one of the best batting units in the world.

The only concern for India is their pace bowling which is looking lackluster despite having the recognised names in it. The absence of Jasprit Bumrah is a worry for the side but is also an opportunity for others to step up to the occasion. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami are likely to spearhead the pace bowling while Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Deepak Chahar will play a supporting role.

Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel will be an asset for India because of their dual carnage with bat and ball. Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal will be the available spinning options for the side.

Past Results In T20 World Cup

India's best performance in the tournament came in the inaugural edition when they defeated Pakistan in the final to lift the title in 2007 and became the first team to do so. However, since then the side failed to bring back the glory home.

Rohit and his company will look to forget their last edition's performance where they failed to seal the semifinal berth.

In the 2016 T20 World Cup, India made a semifinal exit after losing to West Indies while in the 2014 T20 World Cup India lost in the finals against Sri Lanka and ended as runners-up of the tournament.

In the 2012 T20 World Cup, India failed to advance to the second round despite losing just one game in the tournament due to poor run-rate. The story was no different in the second edition of the T20 World Cup in 2010 where the last year's winners made a Super 8 exit after losing to Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

India's Schedule

India will play their opening game against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23 followed by a match against runner-up of group A on October 27.

India will then face South Africa and Bangladesh on October 30 and November 2 respectively. India's last group stage match will be against winner of Group B at Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 6.

The semifinals will be played on November 9, 10 while the summit clash will held at Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 13.

Chances

India have the needed strength in their squad to beat any side on a given day but they need to improve their death overs bowling in order to become the shortest format champions. India's batting order look way better before after the top-four return to form.

India's squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Standby Players: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.