Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav (PTI)

Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday said the country’s vast cricketing potential is finally translating into consistent success, with a series of victories in global tournaments reflecting the immense talent long present in Indian cricket. India have enjoyed a remarkable run in ICC events, winning both of the last two men’s T20 World Cups, the women’s ODI World Cup, the men’s U-19 World Cup and the women’s U-19 T20 World Cup over the past two years.

Dravid, who was honoured with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual awards function of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, spoke about the team’s success in an interaction with Star Sports. “It just kind of feels right, right? “Almost everything coming together at this point of time where Indian cricket has always had great potential and it’s (about) realising that potential on the field as well. Off the field, I think we’ve always had everything we needed and on the field, it’s been great to see that potential being realised.” Dravid said the sustained success is the result of several elements aligning, from players and administrators to coaches and fans. “It’s been phenomenal. It’s just been amazing to see the way Indian cricket has grown over these three decades,” he said while reflecting on the journey since making his international debut in 1996. “Indian cricket has always had amazing talent. We’ve always had really good administrators. We’ve always had really good coaches (and) we’ve been able to back that up with incredible infrastructure. We’ve always had a fantastic domestic system, (a) very good junior cricket system.” “Some of the most incredible fans in the world. The kind of supporters and fans that we have, deserved all of this to come together, to have success on the field. It’s amazing to see how that all of that is coming together now.” Dravid, who guided India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024, also credited the current team for handling the weight of expectations and delivering on the big stage. “It was just lovely to see… Just the performance of the world T20 side, the expectations were immense. They started off as favourites, and it’s not always easy,” Dravid said. “Yes, of course, they’re a very good side, but it’s not always easy to start off as favourites and be there right at the end and lift a trophy. It comes with its own pressures, its own challenges. It was just really good to see Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) and Gautam (Gambhir) and the team really do that,” he said.

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma run between the wickets during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Zimbabwe, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai. (PTI Photo)

Sanju Samson dropped to his knees and looked up at the sky in gratitude and relief, perhaps thanking the cricketing gods at the ‘Garden of Eden’ in Kolkata, after steering India to the T20 World Cup semifinals with a five-wicket win over West Indies in what was a virtual quarter-final for both teams.India captain Suryakumar Yadav doffed his cap in honour of Sanju, after the right-handed batter played a career-defining unbeaten 97 off 50 balls on Sunday.While Sanju’s 97 in Kolkata will be remembered, his short-lived but significant innings against Zimbabwe three days prior had brought momentum to India’s T20 World Cup campaign.In the five matches before Sanju returned to the playing XI against Zimbabwe, India won four but there were clear concerns in the batting, and everyone could see it.

Trouble in top-order

India played without Samson in four out of those five matches, and their highest opening partnership in those games was 8 runs. In the only match that Sanju played, against Namibia (when Abhishek was out due to illness), Samson and Ishan Kishan had an opening stand of 25 runs in 12 balls.Apart from Ishan’s knocks against Pakistan (77 off 40) and Namibia (61 off 24), India’s top four, including Surya and Tilak Varma, were also facing a strike-rate problem in those matches, as the table below shows.

Indian top-order batters’ strike-rate in the first 5 matches of T20 World Cup

Openers not providing a good start, and the middle order struggling to score runs quickly, was a double trouble for defending champions India. This was largely due to India’s batters struggling against off-spin in the tournament.With six left-handers in the top eight, India essentially invited themself to be attacked by off-spinners. And oppositions’ Erasmus, Aghas, Ayubs, and Dutts obliged.During the group stage, India faced more off-spin than any other team — 102 deliveries. Among the 13 teams that faced at least six overs of off-spin, only Nepal (5.25) and Oman (5.42) scored at a slower rate than India’s 6.23 runs per over.India’s trouble against off-spin bowling was first exposed by Gerhard Erasmus, when the Namibian skipper took four wickets, three of them left-handers, in the group-stage match. Pakistan took the cue, and their captain, Salman Ali Agha, a part-time off-spinner, took the new ball and dismissed India’s opener Abhishek Sharma caught on duck at mid-on. The trend continued in India’s last group-stage match against the Netherlands as off-spinner Aryan Dutt came to bowl the first over. He first bowled Abhishek Sharma for another duck, his third in as many matches in the tournament by then, and then sent his partner Ishan Kishan back to the dugout in the fifth over.

It is worth noting that Abhishek had not previously shown vulnerability against off-spin; in fact, he has a career strike rate of 171.1 against off-spinners in powerplay in T20Is. However, given the slow nature of the pitches in the tournament, as compared to the IPL and T20 bilaterals India played at home in the last two years, he seemed to be out of his comfort zone against them and fell to off-spin twice in the three group-stage matches.Meanwhile, Abhishek’s opening partner Ishan Kishan, does face trouble against the off-spinners. In all T20Is, Kishan has scored against off-spinners at a mere 76.9 strike rate in the first six overs. That hasn’t changed in the T20 World Cup, despite him being in the form of his life; the southpaw has scored at just 115.8 strike rate against off-spin in the powerplay, his lowest against all kinds of bowling.In comparison, Sanju Samson has a strike-rate of 188.2 against off-spinners in the powerplay in T20Is.

‘Matlab Abhishek ki jagah khilau?’

By the end of the group stage, it was clear that India’s two left-handed openers had a difficult match-up against off-spin.It was evident that South Africa will use their off-spin options if Ishan and Abhishek open the innings for India in their first Super 8 clash. India captain Suryakumar Yadav was asked in the pre-match press conference whether India would look to bring back right-handed Sanju Samson vs South Africa in the top order to counter the off-spin threat? To which he replied, “Matlab Abhishek ki jagah khilau? (Should I play him instead of Abhishek?)”, “matlab Tilak ki jagah khilau? (You mean in place of Tilak?).“Suryakumar Yadav was seen smiling sarcastically while replying to the journalist as if the suggestion was out of context.But the story repeated, as predicted, and South Africa captain Aiden Markram himself came to bowl with the new ball and dismissed opener Ishan Kishan for a duck. India lost the match by 76 runs, which left them in a do-or-die situation.

How fortunes changed for India?

India’s next Super 8 match was against Zimbabwe in Chennai, and in came Sanju Samson back in the playing XI. He opened the innings with Abhishek and provided India a brisk opening stand of 48 runs. More importantly, with Sanju as an opener, India succeeded in keeping the off-spinner away from the new ball. By the time Sanju was dismissed in the fourth over, India were 48, and Abhishek Sharma was set at the crease. Sanju scored 24 off 15 balls and fulfilled the task brilliantly that he was entrusted with, and was lauded by head coach Gautam Gambhir and support staff after his dismissal. Sanju’s presence did wonders for India in the match. Opener Abhishek Sharma, who had scored just 15 runs before that in the tournament, including three ducks, came back to form and scored a half-century. India scored 256 in the first innings and crushed Zimbabwe by 72 runs. India finally had a convincing win in the tournament, and a campaign that once seemed on the verge of derailment found its momentum. Sanju Samson had turned it around through his 15-ball 24-run knock.Against West Indies on Sunday, India chased down their highest-ever target (196) in Men’s T20 World Cup history, bettering their previous record of 173 against South Africa in 2014.Sanju Samson’s 97 in the chase was the second-highest score for India at the men’s T20 World Cup, behind only Suresh Raina’s 101 against South Africa in 2010. It was the highest for India in a chase at the T20 World Cup, bettering Virat Kohli’s 82 not out against Australia in 2016 and Pakistan in 2022.India captain Suryakumar Yadav, who just a few days ago questioned “kiski jagah khilau?”, bowed down to Samson in appreciation.The 97 in Kolkata will be remembered. It secured the semifinal spot and will sit high among India’s best T20 World Cup knocks. But it was Samson’s 15-ball 24 against Zimbabwe in Chennai that brought India’s T20 World Cup campaign to life, and they are now looking like the formidable side that they are, going into the semi-final.

Suryakumar Yadav and Usman Tariq (Agency Image)

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav admitted that the team’s batting has looked a little shaky in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup but expressed confidence in handling Pakistan’s tricky spinner Usman Tariq, describing him as “an out of syllabus question” in an exam. “See, sometimes there is a question in the exam as well which is out of syllabus. So, we can’t leave that question. To tackle that, you have to adopt your own way. Yes, he is a different character when he comes to bowl,” Surya said at the pre-match press conference.

He added, “But at the same time, we can’t just surrender. We practise with similar types of bowlers and similar actions. We will try to execute what we are practising in the net sessions.” India’s earlier matches exposed some vulnerabilities, with the team reduced to 77 for six against the USA and then losing five wickets for just four runs in the death overs against Namibia. Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash on the slow Premadasa wicket, Surya acknowledged the challenge posed by Tariq’s unusual bowling action, which has sparked debates about legality. “We had a scratchy start. You can’t run away from the fact that it was not a proper T20 wicket. But I said earlier too that you can’t actually brush everything under the carpet. There is no excuse,” he said. He remained positive about the team’s recovery, noting, “But we came back strongly. So, that’s the beauty of T20 cricket. One or two batters I think taking that responsibility makes us cross the line.” Surya also highlighted the mental challenge of facing Pakistan, saying the key is handling pressure and big moments. “Yes, there will be pressure. There will be nerves, butterflies in the stomach when we start the game tomorrow. But yeah, at the same time, if there’s no pressure, no nerves, then there’s no fun to play cricket. And yeah, it’s a big occasion. But yeah, I mean, every time I say the same thing, at the end of the day, it’s just another game. You have to pack your skills, play some good cricket, focus on what you want to do better, and we’ll see what happens.” Despite Pakistan being in Sri Lanka for the past fortnight, Surya remained confident. “They might have some edge. But as I said, we have come here before, we have played in these conditions, we know how the pitch plays, similar conditions to India. It’s like the same situation for both the teams. See, it’s definitely challenging when you come to Sri Lanka. But then at the end of the day, you have to challenge yourself, somehow find a solution and come out good,” he said.