Asia Cup and ICC World T20 2016: Time for India to get into ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 mood

The busy cricket season is here and the cricketers from all over the world will be engrossed in the slam-bang version of the game over the next few months. The countries from the Indian subcontinent will be busy with Asia Cup 2016 in Bangladesh before heading to India for the ICC World T20 2016. There are no doubts that Asia Cup 2016 — being played in the T20 format for the first time ever — will serve as an excellent opportunity for several teams ahead of the global tournament. The focus will be on Asian countries in specific, and on India in particular for being the hosts, and they need to get into the mood they had in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

India had had an ordinary run till ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 that kicked off in Australia and New Zealand exactly a year ago. They had their first match against their arch rivals Pakistan, and India were needed to bring their A-game forward to get past their rivals. India produced a splendid show with both bat and ball, winning the game by 76 runs at the Adelaide Oval and proving that their poor run was not going to last any longer.

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In reality, India did not put their heart into the triangular series including Australia and England Down Under, ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. India wanted their players to be fresh and ready for the bigger challenge in the World Cup, and their planning and execution was splendid as they remained unbeaten until. It was certainly a special performance by a team that was coming off poor months in Australia, battling hard for wins but getting no results. ALSO READ: Asia Cup 2016: Afghanistan may shock big guns

World Cup 2015 saw India going all guns blazing. Their bowlers turned menacing, with Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav leading the charge. India bowled out their opponents seven times on the trot — which turned out to be India’s best bowling performance on a stretch in ODI cricket. Indian batsmen were among runs, with each one coming to the fore when the situation demanded.

India’s juggernaut ended only in the semi-final when they ran into a spirited Australia, the only match in which their both their batsmen and bowlers had an off day. If the semi-final at Melbourne is kept aside, India produced an all-round, ruthless performance which commanded respect from all corners. It certainly serves as a blueprint which they must follow ahead of all important competitions. ALSO READ: ICC World T20 2016 and Asia Cup: Faltering Sri Lanka welcome back heroes

ICC World T20 2016 is just a few days away and India will garner obvious attraction. MS Dhoni has a balanced side, which is coming off wins in Australia and against Sri Lanka at home. The cricket fraternity always looks at IPL, which provides Indian cricket the necessary firepower for T20 cricket, which means that India will have additional pressure on them. To make sure they get everything right and give themselves the best chance of winning tournament, Dhoni and his men can revise what they did in the World Cup 2015 that brought them success.

(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)