Apart from being another etching in their annals of legacy, a historic 5-1 ODI series victory in South Africa also served as a progress indicator for the Men in Blue’s 2019 World Cup preparations. Express breaks down the hits and misses of Team India in this regard…
Skipping a few beats
He goes into God mode with a bat in his hands, but without it, he descends into the realm of mortality.
Virat Kohli’s tactical nous has been peppered with criticism ever since the beginning of this tour, be it for his team’s playing XI, a few logic-defying decisions (a recent example being his decision to bat first at the Wanderers, despite prior knowledge of showers), and some instances of a reactive approach (as opposed to a proactive one) to field-setting.
But, his never-back-down approach towards decision-making — irrespective of the consequences — has also paid rich dividends, as evidenced by the return of investment he has reaped from the unwavering faith he has placed in both Kuldeep and Chahal.The presence of MS Dhoni — if stump-mic recordings are to go by — could further temper his skippering intellect over the next few tours in store
No fingers shown
Thirty three out of fifty three wickets, at an average and strike-rate of 15.09 and 18.75. That’s what the Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal combine had to show after their one-day sojourn; a statistic that underscores the dominance they’ve exhibited, barring the Wanderers.The two wrist-spinners have worn courage on their sleeve every time, not showing hesitation in doling out flight and loop — that too at least ten clicks slower than their South African counterparts — even after being biffed across or over the ropes.
Having displaced two prominent finger-spinners from recent limited-over memory, Kuldeep and Chahal seem to have marked out their spots in India’s blueprint for next year’s big-ticket event.
Their upcoming tour of England — if the two do find themselves in the squad, which they will in all probability — will be their litmus test
Time to slow it down?
The two fast-bowling bulwarks for India in the shorter formats seemed to have lost their sheen
Their lacklustre numbers — 10 wickets at an average and strike-rate of 36.8 and 45 — can perhaps be attributed to their burgeoning workload
Bumrah has steamed in for 925 balls in this tour (the most among all players), while Bhuvneshwar has bent his back for 600 deliveries
It was heartening to see Shardul Thakur being given a look-in, but the think-tank needs to focus on providing pacers breathing space via rotation
Problem of plenty
With Rahane, MS Dhoni, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, India haven’t found the right mix for the middle, with none showing consistency. It remains to be seen if set players will be groomed for particular slots
Undisturbed at top
India have got one of the settled top orders in the limited over format. The No 1, 2, 3 slot has been invariably effective with Rohit-Dhawan at top and Kohli at one-down. Rohit Sharma has piled up 4,627 runs opening for the team, with an average of 53.80. Shikar Dhawan, an established opener, has also scored 4,300. Unless there come any injury concerns to any of the Top 2, players like KL Rahul or Ajinkya Rahane might step in. As far as World Cup is concerned, top-order is sorted out
In or out
Players like Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur can be the second string of players. If team decides to go with experience, then Pandey and Iyer will also be warming the bench. In spite of being in the squad, players like Karthik were hardly given chances to prove. With not much of chopping and changing in the playing XI, the bench strength has not been tested, which raises the question if India will be going to England next year with a strong, complete squad