Amazingly, India play only one t20 international before may 2010's world championship in the Caribbean Saturday's tie in Mohaliu00a0

Twenty20 cricket got a huge fillip thanks to India's triumph in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and then the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. But the IPL phenomenon hasn't really helped the Men in Blue as India's performance in T20 internationals has been forgettable after their triumph in South Africa in September, 2007.

Yesterday's loss to Sri Lanka at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Jamtha was a testimony to the fact that India are far from being a force to reckon with when it comes to T20 internationals.

Since attaining the status of world champions, India have won just four of their 11 T20 internationals, including last night's 29-run defeat in Nagpur. Mind you, two of those victories were against Bangladesh and Ireland, which underlines the fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men have struggled in the shortest form of the game over the last 24 months.

What's worse is that India will have just one more opportunity to test their skills ahead of their quest to regain World Twenty20, to be played in the West Indies in May 2010. Naturally, the second T20 international against Sri Lanka in Mohali on Saturday has a lot more significance to it from India's perspective than just squaring the two-match series.

Last chance
"In the context of this being India's last T20 international before the World Twenty20, it is immensely important for the team to get its act together," Lalchand Rajput, who was the cricket manager during India's triumph in the inaugural World Twenty20, said after yesterday's defeat: "It will be the last chance for the coach (Gary Kirsten) and the captain (Dhoni) to try out different combinations and strategies."

It doesn't mean that the Indian cricketers will have no exposure to T20 before the Caribbean carnival. Obviously, all of them will play for their respective sides in the domestic T20 knockouts as well as IPL's third edition before departing for the West Indies.

But the World Twenty20 in England earlier this year proved that IPL doesn't necessarily help India's Twenty20 teams. Lamenting the downside of playing IPL, Rajput said, "IPL is not an ideal preparation when it comes to competing at international level. It does keep a player busy with T20 cricket, but at the end of the day, every player is playing for his own team. It doesn't allow India's team to play as a unit and it definitely matters when it comes to a major international tournament."u00a0 Rajput also hoped that the selectors have included to the likes of paceman Ashok Dinda, who made his international debut last night, and R Ashwin with an eye on World Twenty20.

"Otherwise it would not only dent the players' confidence and will also serve no purpose to the team when it comes to the team's preparations for World Twenty20."