CHENNAI: This Indian Premier League (IPL) was supposed to be the final audition ahead of this year's T20 World Cup. Since their group stage exit at the last edition in October-November, India have already made a course correction. In the bilateral T20Is at home against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka, they identified a core group who will be in contention to fly to Australia.
For a country that has the most competitive T20 league, where there is no dearth of talent, one of the cons is that most of the regular Indian players tend to play the same role for the franchise. They have been so spoilt for choice at all times that they have even picked three wicketkeepers in the squad, never mind the fact that none of their regular batters are handy with the ball. From flirting between a long tail and a one-dimensional top-order, and banking on a half-fit all-rounder to untangle the combination lock at the World Cup, India have tried it all. And at the World Cup, they received a reality check.
The end result was the addition of the likes of Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Sanju Samson and going back to wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj in the mix, the core is set.
And going forward, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh, all of whom have had a stellar start to the IPL in 2022, will be in the mix. But the challenge for the Indian team management and the selectors is in identifying the roles and the ideal fits for the players beginning with the home series against South Africa starting on June 9. Among the batting group mentioned above, eight of them bat in the top-order with Hooda and Suryakumar being the exceptions. Even Pandya, a player who traditionally plays the finisher’s role, is playing in the top-order for Gujarat Titans. India have to finalise the roles well in advance and give players the time to adjust to it. If picked, the likes of Shreyas, Samson and Pant will be forced to play a different role at No 5 or 6 with India.
The selectors, the team management and skipper Rohit are set for a meeting before the South Africa squad is picked, with the key point being identifying 15-18 players. In this context, the return to form and the fitness of Pandya will be a welcome factor as it eases them to at least narrow down the lower middle-order which will also include Ravindra Jadeja.
Except for a handful, the ongoing IPL has been forgettable for a majority of India's current internationals. Among those in contention, only Rahul, Shreyas and Pandya are in the top-10 run-getters list with the former being the only one with exceptional numbers with the bat, scoring two centuries. Among bowlers, only Chahal and Kuldeep are on the list with the likes of T Natarajan, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav making a strong case for inclusion.
That most of the regulars haven’t brought their A-game to the fore isn’t surprising with some looking overcooked. The amount of cricket they have played since the restart after the pandemic is bound to take a toll, which is why it is equally important to consider some fresh legs. In Karthik, Malik and Pandya, India do have options, who were not in the frame of things when they faced West Indies and Sri Lanka at home.
For the aspiring brand of cricket that India intends to play, it is imperative they pick the right personnel and back them at all costs. For starters, they need to be 100 per cent sure if their top-three is going to be Rohit, Rahul and Kohli for the brand of cricket they want to play. Picking a 15 from this isn’t going to be an easy task by any means for selectors unless some bold calls are made. That alone will decide India’s fate Down Under.