AHMEDABAD: The last time the Champions Trophy came around in 2017, the Indian team had a set template towards the ODI game. Wicket conservation at the top building towards a crescendo in the back-end, Virat Kohli mastering chases and a solid finisher in the form of MS Dhoni with Hardik Pandya an exciting addition. Even if England tore apart the accepted blueprint, India considered this template de rigueur in the 50-over game.
While England and Pakistan won the big 50-over ICC titles in that two-year period, India's attitude gave them one semifinal and final. After a change of regime in 2022, India carried with them the same players but they changed their attitude towards white-ball cricket, especially batting up top. And they built something special, The Class of 2023 (one Travis Head sized evening shouldn't take this away from them) will go down as one of their greatest ODI sides.
With India returning to the scene of one of their great modern heart-aches — the Narendra Modi Stadium — now would be a good time to take stock of where they stand in the format with less than a week to go for the Champions Trophy.
Change in approach
A couple of years before the home World Cup in 2023, a regime change had resulted in a new way to play ODI cricket. Rohit Sharma decided to take it upon himself to a) use the field restrictions in the first 10 overs to break the game irrespective of setting a target or chasing and b) take the pitch and the opponents out of the equation. Here are a couple of numbers to support this. He came into his own as one of the pre-eminent openers of the white-ball game in 2015. In the subsequent eight-year period from the beginning of 2015, he struck at 95.97 while averaging 60.02 (24 100s in 109 games).
After January 1, 2023? An average of 52.86 and striking at 119.76 (three 100s in 32). These days, most Indian batters are running with this front-foot first attitude. There is less of a price on their wicket. Taking a chase deep or a conservative mindset for the sake of doing so is actively frowned upon. If you can kill the game in the opening 10 overs, do it. If you can win the game in the first 30 overs, do it.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir has promulgated a similar sort of attitude. The top-down approach has already seen India enjoy big wins over England in consecutive ODIs to take an unassailable lead in the thee-match series.
It's a fool's errand to look at the longer picture using a sample size of two games but a few things have become clear. Shreyas Iyer's match-winning knock in the first ODI means the team management are okay to eschew a left-right opening combination at the top to play Iyer at No. 4. This is because they view Sharma, Kohli and Shubman Gill undroppable. There's two ways to look at it. India's initial squad construction was flawed as they had decided to bench Iyer, whose numbers at No. 4 is genuinely world-class. Or they have very quickly course-corrected, a hallmark of a good outfit.
For reasons best known to the management, KL Rahul is seemingly a lock in the middle-order as the first choice 'keeper. But Rahul does offer the insurance of steadying an innings in case of early wickets — something like the innings he played in the group stages of the World Cup against Australia.
Both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are, as it stands, their two first-choice spinning all-rounders. Thanks to their multi-dimensional skillsets, Sharma & Co. can play Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakravarthy in games when they feel like they need a third frontline spinner in the XI. Chakravarthy, who has grown in stature, was a late bolter for the ICC event but he has the tools to upset the opposition’s best laid plans. What makes him a tantalising prospect, even in the ODI format, is the way he has upskilled himself over the last year or so. He does have a lot of options up his sleeve. It has already caused England a lot of consternation and he could do something similar to other batting sides.
For all the focus on India’s batting and the way they have run a 2025 patch file to stop running a 2010 version, much of what they can achieve in Dubai will depend on the 50 overs — or fewer — they spend in the field once every few days. How will Mohammed Shami be, post his comeback? Can Harshit Rana be an effective answer to any question? Arshdeep Singh, who has been sui generis in the shortest format, has played eight ODIs in two-and-a-half years.
It’s why there will be renewed attention on the spinners -- do not be surprised if the Men in Blue go in with three every game -- in the desert. They are dependable, are the kind of bowlers who will complement each other while keeping things simple and know what to do (and not what not to do) in Asian conditions. They challenge all three stumps, test out all the edges of the bat and match-ups do not faze them. Can they make up for a seeming lack of teeth in the pace-bowling department? If the numbers of the two-thirds completed England series can be admitted as evidence, the answer would be yes.
However, this is a side so used to taking early wickets in recent ICC white-ball events. It’s why they have reached one semi-final and two finals, winning one in the process. If they are to enjoy a deep run, it has to start with the bowling.
Ahmedabad will be the final dress rehearsal to get it right before the start of the real deal.