CHENNAI: The series scoreline reads 2-1. Four batters scored centuries, including a double hundred from the captain himself. And yet, in New Chandigarh, Shubman Gill was in reflective mode. The skipper called for introspection about the bowling combinations they had to field, injuries and forced changes they had to make, and how they might not have enough time to experiment in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup.
He called the injuries and scheduling "unfortunate" as the team management has not been able to field their preferred bowling line-up, which, in an ideal world, would read: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna/Harshit Rana, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel/Washington Sundar.
Three of them are not fit to play yet; three of the rest are with the T20I team, and as a result, India have handed debuts to two pacers — Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj — and Naman Dhir in the series against West Indies."I think it is not in our hands when a player gets injured, or selection is something that is not in my hands or our hands," Gill said.
"I would say it was a good chance for the other players who got an opportunity to prove their merit for the team. It was up to them to take those chances, and it was a good opportunity for them to perform. If some players are not available, then for our second string of players, it was a good opportunity to express themselves," he added.
However, whether they did enough is a question that remains to be answered. Kamboj played just one match (0/82); Nabi (0/84)was left out after his debut in a high-scoring contest in Guwahati. Naman too did not make a sizable impact (1 wicket and 30 runs). Then there is Nitish K Reddy, who was withdrawn from the T20I squad to give game time, as he is being looked at as a potential Pandya backup. Reddy, in two matches, bowled 11.5 overs, took 1/95 and scored nine runs in the one chance he got to bat.
"Anshul and Auqib are the kind of players who are going to be in the mix a lot. With Prasidh getting injured and us having an opportunity to experiment with another player with the series already bagged, we wanted to take that opportunity. Anshul is someone who can also bat at number 8, and that number is very crucial for us. We don't know who will be fit at the World Cup, and if we want someone who can bowl and bat at number 8, Anshul can do the job, and even Aaqib can bat a bit and do the job. So we want to see which players can deliver under pressure and get some experience," said Gill.
While understanding the need to experiment, the skipper feels he does not have much time and hopes to have the full-strength team for New Zealand ODIs. "I honestly think there is not that much time to experiment. The combination that we want to play, hopefully, we get all the players available from the next series. The combination that we would like to play in the World Cup, we want to start playing with that combination," he explained.
For him, powerplay wickets and death bowling are a matter of concern, and a Bumrah-less attack understandably does not look the same. He also did not shy away from pointing out fielding issues too. "I think bowling in the powerplay and in the death has been something that has hurt us. If you don't get off to a good start in the powerplay, we've seen that in the middle overs, it's not easy to take wickets or create chances with only four fielders outside. The intensity of the game completely changes if you don't keep taking wickets either in the powerplay or in the middle overs. That's the reason why this series has been so high-scoring — it's been difficult for the bowlers to take wickets in the middle overs. Even today, we lost two wickets in the powerplay, but we still managed to get 350 on the board.
"I think we dropped around three or four catches today. Our fielding in the series, I would say, has not been up to the mark. In the whole series, we dropped around seven catches, if I'm not wrong. Even in the field today, we gave away many runs; we were quite sloppy. Leading up to the World Cup, these are the areas we definitely need to improve. We need to be at our best, especially in the field. It's not easy for the bowlers, so the fielders can help a lot. If the wicket is not helping the bowlers much and our fielding is sub-standard, it's a difficult job for the bowlers," said Gill.