On the face of it, India return to the Thomas Cup with essentially the same team that served them so well during their history-making journey in Bangkok two years ago.

The core of the team remains the same: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in singles, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila/Arjun MR in doubles.

And yet, the team will arrive in Chengdu carrying very different baggage.

Just last year Prannoy was in the form of his life, having won the Malaysia Masters, finished runner-up at the Australia Open, and winning bronze at the World Championships and the Asian Games. This year, though, a previous health issue resurfaced, and he has struggled on the HSBC BWF World Tour, with early exits at five of six tournaments.

Sen had a nightmarish 2023 and early 2024 – with early exits at 10 straight tournaments – before rediscovering his form and confidence with semifinals at the French Open and All England.

Kidambi’s form has seen more lows than highs over the past year, with his best performance over the period being a semifinal at the Swiss Open.

Depending on how the campaign goes, the third singles could also be entrusted to young Priyanshu Rajawat, who was the baby of the team the last time round. Since then Rajawat has acquitted himself well at the elite level, winning his first Super 300 title last year in Orleans.

The men’s doubles pair of Rankireddy/Shetty have gone from strength to strength since the Thomas Cup win. With gold medals at the Asian Championships and the Asian Games last year, and consistently going deep into every tournament – they made four straight finals on the World Tour in recent months – they are the spearheads of the team.

The second pair Kapila/Arjun, affected by injuries, struggled all through 2023; this year saw them crash early at the Malaysia Open and the India Open before they played – and won – the Uganda International Challenge. They have strung together some good results – winning the Polish Open, and making the quarterfinals at the Spain Masters in March.

Overall, the Indians will know that defending the title presents them a more difficult challenge compared to winning it, considering that their form as individuals has been inconsistent in the run-up to Chengdu. However, while recent form might not favour the Indians, a spark is sometimes all it takes to light the fire of team camaraderie.

India made history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time at its last edition. Can they become only the fourth team ever to defend the title?