India are all set to begin their first One-Day International assignment after their World Cup disappointment as they face West Indies in a three-match series, starting in Guyana on Thursday.
Virat Kohli and Co’s dream of bringing home a third ICC World Cup trophy was dashed by a semi-final defeat to New Zealand. That result was a bitter pill to swallow but the men in blue did a fine job in sealing a 3-0 victory in the just-concluded T20 International series against the Windies.
Shikhar Dhawan will most-likely return to his position at the top of the order after getting sidelined in the World Cup due to a thumb injury. That will mean KL Rahul might be shifted to No 4, considering India didn’t really solve the middle order puzzle at the marquee 50-over event in England.
As far as the batting department is concerned, India’s biggest strength, as has been the case for a long time now, lies in Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While the skipper didn’t have a great World Cup by his standards, he isn’t out of form by any stretch of imagination. He has been looking in great touch but a big score has proved elusive for longer than is usual for him. The stylish right-hander scored a total of 106 runs in the three T20Is against West Indies, with a match-winning 59 in the last game.
Rohit, on the other hand, is arguably the finest batsman in the world in white-ball cricket at the moment. His record five centuries at the World Cup are a testament to the kind of form he’s in and India will be banking on him to come good once again.
Apart from these two, though, the Indian batting line-up still looks shaky. Especially the middle order. Series after series, match after match, season after season in the build-up to the World Cup, concerns over the top-order dependency have been voiced; the issue was left unfixed before the tournament, and proved to be India’s undoing in Manchester.
With this ODI series, that cycle begins again. And India must start from scratch.
Options available
With Rahul likely to bat at No 4, Rishabh Pant could be set for a demotion. The wicketkeeper roared back to form with an unbeaten half-century in the third T20I and is expected to play a crucial role for India in the middle overs in the upcoming ODIs.
This leaves Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer as the contenders for the remaining spots in the batting order. Jadhav didn’t do enough with the opportunities he got at the World Cup, Pandey failed to impress in the T20Is, and Iyer last played an ODI a year and a half ago. While it’s a tough call to make, one hopes Iyer gets the vote with an eye on the bigger picture.
In Dhoni’s absence, in the short term and with an view to planning for 2023, it is essential to groom a finisher and this is where Pant’s position in the order becomes crucial. Despite the ad-hoc arrangement of playing him at No 4, Iyer and Rahul are more suited to that middle-order role and India would do well to use Pant as the finisher, a role Kohli wants his statemate to take up in T20Is.
In the bowling department, India have three proper spinners in the 15-man squad – Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Jadeja’s valiant effort in the World Cup semi-final defeat should surely earn him a place in the XI for the first ODI. However, the second spinner remains a concern for India. Both Chahal and Yadav are short on confidence after disappointing World Cup campaigns and it’ll sure be a surprise if the management decides to include both of them and go with three spinners in the XI. For now, it’d seem this is a puzzle that will be solved only by trial and error; there is no definite solution in sight.
Among the fast-bowlers, India will be without the services of Jasprit Bumrah as he has been rested for the tour. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who played all three T20Is, might also be given a breather with Mohammed Shami leading the pack.
Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed are the other two pacers in the squad and both of them are in decent form at the moment. Saini got five wickets in the three T20Is he played recently while Ahmed bowled economically in the two chances that he got. The two will need to put in special performances to establish themselves in India’s impressive fast-bowling attack.
As far as the West Indies are concerned, they will hope the return of veteran Chris Gayle bolsters them. The hard-hitting left-hander had announced during the World Cup that the home series against India will be his last.
Left-handed opener John Campbell, Roston Chase and all-rounder Keemo Paul have all been recalled to the 14-member squad. The hosts fail to pose a real challenge in the shortest format and will be eager to put up a better fight in the ODIs. But their World Cup performances left a lot to be desired and with uncertainty in their dressing room, the Caribbean outfit are once again struggling in the international arena after a promising start to 2019.
The matches which will be played at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday, and on August 11 and 14 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
It’s easy to say that it is too early to be thinking about the World Cup four years from now, but one can only hope India learn a lesson or two from England’s bold approach since 2015 and treat this West Indies series as the first stop towards 2023 and not just as a prologue to the 2019 tournament.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli [captain], Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant [wk], Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini.
West Indies: Jason Holder [captain], Chris Gayle, John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope [wk], Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach.
Match starts at 7 pm, IST.
[With inputs from PTI]
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