Buoyed by their hard fought victory against Pakistan in a low-scoring match, India will aim to continue the winning momentum when they play co-hosts USA on Wednesday.
But they can ill-afford to take the USA lightly, who produced one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history when they outclassed former champions Pakistan following their impressive victory against Canada in their opening game.
The winner of the India-USA match will ensure their passage to the Super Eight stage.
The tricky pitch at New York's Nassau county international cricket stadium has proved to be quite difficult for the batters to master. In the seven matches played so far, Canada's 137/7 against Ireland has been the highest score, while only four batters have gone past the 50 run mark in 14 innings in total.
While their bowling has been top notch in both their first two games, India's batting is a worry.
Virat Kohli's elevation to the opener's role hasn't worked so far as he has fallen for single digit scores in both innings, while Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube struggled to make an impact against Pakistan.
The Indians have found it hard to play their normal attacking style of batting and adjust to the unpredictable New York pitch which has seen a lot of uneven bounce and also lot of help for the pace bowlers.
The USA team's bowling is not that formidable and this could be a good opportunity for some Indian batters to bide their time in the middle and get back among the runs.
Among the bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja has found it hard to make a mark with the ball and has been overshadowed by spin colleague Axar Patel. However, the two left-arm spinners are quite capable with the bat which has seen them get the nod ahead of wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is a genuine wicket-taking option in the middle overs.
With Hardik Pandya back to his best bowling form, it has provided a lot of balance to the Indian line-up. Playing as the fourth seamer, Pandya has been in fine form with five wickets from two games to bounce back after a below-par IPL.
Jasprit Bumrah has been in red-hot form with the ball, with five wickets for 20 runs in seven overs in the first two games at an unbelievable economy rate of 2.85.
He has good support from Arshdeep Singh, who despite being expensive has made the new ball count, while Mohammed Siraj is yet to find his rhythm.
The USA's big strength has been their batting in the first two games but the world class Indian bowling line-up will be a completely different challenge altogether for the hosts.
Aaron Jones has been the star batter for USA in the first two games. He smashed a brilliant 94 from 40 balls to power the USA to victory in a huge run-chase against Canada before excelling again as the finisher against Pakistan with a crucial 36 not out in a tight run chase.
Monank Patel has led the team admirably well apart from hitting a vital half-century against Pakistan, while Andries Gous has been consistent in the middle order for the hosts.
Their bowling could also test the Indians. Mumbai-born left-arm Saurabh Netravalkar would be keen to make a mark against some of his old team-mates from India, while pacer Ali Khan has experience of playing in various T20 leagues around the world.
Former Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson knows a lot about the Indians, having played a few seasons in the IPL, including two for Mumbai Indians under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, while Harmeet Singh, who was part of India's Under-19 World Cup winning team in 2012, is quite handy in the middle overs.
India will likely continue with the same playing XI and ensure that they play at their best against the USA to seal their place in the next round, which could afford them the luxury of trying out the bench strength in their final league game against Ireland.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
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