The ICC 2003 World Cup will always hold a special place in the hearts of Indians. Held in South Africa, the tournament saw Team India reach the finals of the competition. It had befallen after a long time. For most of the Indian 90’s kids, the first heartbreak occurred in the finals of this tournament.
T20 format was only launched around 2006. Until then, there were only two formats in the game. However, if T20’s came about after the 2003 World Cup, India could have had an interesting playing XI. A few bold decisions would have been taken to constitute this squad. We talk about what the XI could have been if this scenario had transpired.
Openers: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag would have been the first name on the team sheet if this was the case. The man from Delhi knew the only way to play, and that was to go hard at the bowler’s right from the beginning. This is the exact recipe to be an opener in the T20 format.
Although people felt there was no scope for technically proficient batsmen in T20’s, the case is different now. A good batsman will succeed across formats. And, there has not been a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar that the world has produced. He walks into this XI as well.
Middle-Order: Sourav Ganguly (C), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (WK) and Dinesh Mongia
Sourav Ganguly will play in this XI at No.3. Although he likes opening the batting, the team cannot afford to tinker with the opening combination of Viru and Sachin. Sourav is himself an aggressive batsman and an excellent captain. He will lead this squad.
The core of India’s T20 squad when the format was introduced would have been part of the 2003 XI, as well. Yuvraj had already made a name for himself and would have been at No.4. He could offer overs with the ball, and that would have been a bonus for the team.
MS Dhoni made his debut in 2004, but he was in the scene at around 2003. Team India was in need of a specialist wicket-keeper at that time, and if they had to pick a T20 squad, MSD could have made an entry.
Ahead of the experienced players, we feel Team India would have gone with Dinesh Mongia at No.6. He has the habit of playing the big hits and can offer something with the ball too.
All-Rounders: Reetinder Singh Sodhi
A T20 XI needs all-rounders for the balance. A pace-bowling all-rounder in India is always hard to find. At that time, it was even harder. There was Sanjay Bangar but we feel Team India might have tried out Reetinder for the No.7 slot. He could hit big and could bowl at least two overs. He was a decent fielder as well.
Bowlers: Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath
It would have been the ODI bowling unit for the T20 squad as well. At that time, since there were no bowlers who were mastering the yorkers or the slower ones, it would have been better off by choosing the players already in the squad.
Bhajji’s off-spin and Anil’s leg-spin was always a fulfilling combination. If backups were needed, Team India could have used Amit Mishra. In the pace department, Zaheer and Srinath are present. They can pick wickets at both ends of the innings and have sufficient tricks to deceive the batsmen.
