Twenty20 series wins over Australia and Sri Lanka have given top-ranked India plenty of cause for optimism as they launch their bid for a second world crown in the sport’s shortest format on home soil next month.
Champions in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, India blanked hosts Australia 3-0 at the start of the year before returning home to rally for a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka.
The three-match series started with a surprise defeat on a seamer-friendly surface in Pune, but India were spared the usual outpouring of discontent that follows any cricketing loss with convincing wins in the remaining two matches.
Read more: India v Sri Lanka cricket – Five things we learnt from India's Twenty20 series win
A green-tinged pitch like the one witnessed in Pune is unlikely to seen during the March 8-April 3 event and captain MS Dhoni has already identified his preferred line-up a month before the hosts open their campaign against New Zealand.
“We are always a top contender when it comes to shorter formats,” Dhoni said after India beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
“Also, with the World Cup to be held in India, we know the spinners will come into the equation. It gives us the added benefit.
“Added to that is the exposure of having played the IPL [T20 tournament] over here. Out of the eight seasons, we have played seven seasons in India. We have got a lot of players, especially ones who are part of the team, who have got very good experience of playing in India.”
The return of batting mainstay Virat Kohli, rested for the Sri Lanka series, for Ajinkya Rahane is likely to be the only change to India’s starting side for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 event in Bangladesh and the subsequent World Twenty20.
The strong form of India’s top order has left the middle to lower batsmen with limited opportunities to impress, however, and while Dhoni would like to see that deficiency addressed, he realises it could be difficult to fulfil.
“Not everybody has had a chance to bat, but we will keep facing this problem because our line-up is quite deep,” he added.
“We will try to give chances to a few of the players who haven’t batted so far. But usually those who are batting close to six, seven and eight will have to develop ways to play the big shots as soon as they go in anyway.”
Dhoni, who led the side to that victory in 2007 and also the 50-over World Cup on home soil four years later, was more relaxed about his bowling options, saying the side had the right balance to tackle any conditions.
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Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
OIL PLEDGE
At the start of Russia's invasion, IEA member countries held 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry, according to the agency's website. The two collective actions of the IEA this year of 62.7 million barrels, which was agreed on March 1, and this week's 120 million barrels amount to 9 per cent of total emergency reserves, it added.
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Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
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Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
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UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
