There was hope in the air when Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma took over the Indian team a year ago. We talked about a long-term plan with a feeder system to supply fit talent and clarify roles. There weren’t any holes in the team. A fit Hardik Pandya ended India’s long search for a pace-bowling all-rounder, as was the case at the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Chaos and conservative experiments have replaced it. The current team management has too many questions to answer. They stated at the beginning of last year that they would focus on the T20 World Cup. Yeah, that bombed. After the ODI series loss to Bangladesh, Dravid said they’ll start focusing on the ODI World Cup starting next month.
BCCI and team management need to huddle up for that to happen. Here’s what they need to address as soon as possible before the World Cup.
Are all-format players really necessary?
In contrast to the rest of the world, India doesn’t think Tests, ODIs, and T20s require different skills. All their star players play all three formats – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer. Our world has changed. Both Australia and South Africa try to fit their star players into all formats, and their bowling in big tournaments has suffered.
The BCCI can’t tell the Indian Premier League franchises to rest the India stars, so it’s up to the selectors or players to make that call.
Can you tell me who opening ?
In spite of Rohit’s injury-induced absence, KL Rahul didn’t open the second ODI, so he’s now a middle-order option. The top two are Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. With a year left for the marquee event, doubts do arise about Dhawan’s strike-rate, especially with a year left for the 50-over format. Despite Rohit’s fitness, there’s another concern. Is Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad or Ishan Kishan going to be considered?
Could you please inform me who the alternate captain is?
Rahul has been anointed by them. As far as I can tell, he has not demonstrated any indication of merit for the position. The fact that he is currently in a shaky personal form makes it a bit of a risk to place the burden of batting, keeping, and captaincy on a man who does not seem natural in the role. The calm word in Mohammed Siraj’s ear during the second ODI would have done the trick; however, Rahul allowed things to spiral out of control. Pandya was appointed captain for the New Zealand T20I series, but even the head coach had taken a break during that series. What is the status of Pandya?
Can you tell me who finished first?
In addition to Pandya, will Jadeja and Washington Sundar be responsible for this task? Will a few names be tossed up, left unexplored or unnailed until the World Cup looms right in their face and forces them into making a decision? There is also a transformation taking place in the 50-over format, just as T20 did right in front of them in the IPL; the selection of an insufficient top order failed to teach them any lessons. An IPL five-time champion being left rudderless was not expected. How will they approach the ODI series?
Does the Indian team have an ODI strategy?
There is no doubt in the world that England plays white-ball cricket, and the same is true for Pakistan. Is there a blueprint for India’s white-ball strategy? How does India play ODIs? The Australian team did not fix its T20 template before the World T20, and was tossing around options right up until the end with an out-of-form captain. The Indian team is also at risk of following that path in ODIs. Almost a year remains, of course, but as they discovered in the Twenty20 Internationals, time flies when there is no clarity.
Can you tell me who the bowlers are?
Bumrah’s absence causes the team to struggle. This is particularly true given Rohit and Dravid’s unwillingness to explore the remaining options. At the T20 World Cup, the world demonstrated that a quickish leg-spinner was the best option. The world explored this option in the build-up, but did not have the confidence to punt on Ravi Bishnoi in Australia. The team did not even play Yuzvendra Chahal. Luckily, the IPL provided them with Arshdeep Singh and spared them a few blushes. Despite this, a good third seamer was forced to mature into a strike bowler right before the World Cup. Following a year of ignoring Shami due to injuries, they decided to put their faith in him. Despite being groomed to perform well under Indian conditions, Harshal Patel was not included in the Australian team due to a lack of confidence in his style.
The selectors are nowhere to be found.
In a few days, there will be a third new chairman of selectors in three years. Over the past few months, there has also been a lack of consistency in the selection process, with players being dropped and rotated for reasons that are best known to the team management. Among the top contenders for the World Cup, Gill, Sanju Samson, and Suryakumar Yadav did not accompany the team to Bangladesh. Even if the goal was to manage their workload and provide rest, this is not occurring since these players will be participating in the Ranji Trophy for their respective states. In addition, while the BCCI has removed the entire selection panel led by Chetan Sharma, it is worth mentioning again that no selector from the west zone has been appointed since February. The selectors should also clearly understand their role and pick the most appropriate players, just as managers do for their teams. The team should not select a player and force him to play out of position, as was the case with Deepak Hooda at the T20 World Cup.
The Rohit-Rahul era’s questionable picks:
Who believed that Harshal Patel would be able to work in Australia?
What prevented Rishabh Pant or Prithvi Shaw from being used as T20 openers?
Ravi Bishnoi was not selected over Yuzvendra Chahal, nor was Umran Malik blooded in for his outstanding pace.
In the shortest format, was Deepak Hooda really considered to be superior to Sanju Samson?
Could you please let me know what the word is on Shubman Gill?
