The Indian limited overs squad for the Australian tour was also announced on the same day when the test squad was announced. After the 2019 World Cup debacle where India was expected to reach the final if not win the cup, the Indian limited overs team is fairly settled. Number 4, 5 and Number 6 slots appear to be filled be able players who can play the waiting game and at the sametime, will be able to take the game away from the opposition. Shreyas Iyer, Rahul & Manish Pandey are occupying these slots.

In the 2019 World Cup, the Indian team experimented with Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar. Just a look at the names will tell us how wrong was the selection. Tailenders were asked to bat at the crucial spot of number 4. No wonder, the team failed miserably against New Zealand in the semi-final. The BCCI alongwith Kohli and Shastri must be blamed for such shoddy selection. The BCCI, Kohli & Shastri have learned their lesson albeit it took the magnitude of a World Cup loss. Shreyas Iyer is firmly in control of number 4 with Rahul at 5 and Pandey at 6. Players who should have originally played at the World Cup. Since then, the team has witnessed mixed results with 50% wins but the sample is too less to be subjected to any judgement.

Most of the players are automatically selected because of their performance over the last several years. There isn’t a question mark against most of them. However, the selection of some of the players does raise questions.

The selection of Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is one of the mainstay of the Indian ODI team. He has been prolific at the top of the order. There is absolutely no doubt about this spot in the playing eleven in ODI cricket. However, his selection for T20 raises a lot of questions. Wasn’t he recently dropped from the T20 team because of non-performance? Didn’t Rohit & Rahul form an explosive opening partnership? Understandably, Rohit is injured but what is the need to go back to Dhawan? Hasn’t the so called IPL thrown enough options? If not, why is that tournament even conducted? Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Padikkal, Jaiswal or some of them who comes to mind. Why does the BCCI always goes back to the tried and failed players?

The non-selection of Kuldeep Yadav

The selectors have taken a good decision in not selecting Kuldeep Yadav for the T20 team. Yadav is among the rare breed. A left arm leg spinner. He will do really well in Test cricket and probably in ODI too but T20 will certainly set his confidence back. Hence, this is something that must be appreciated.

Rahul’s role

If Rohit Sharma is definitely ruled out of the limited overs, I hope Kohli will not push Rahul to open the innings. It is fairly well known that Rahul does not like to open. His performances are a proof of that. The same Rahul in the middle order is a different beast. He can tear any bowling apart and propel the team to high enough scores. This is not only in ODI but also in T20. Agreed that in the IPL he has scored lots of runs as an opener but opening is not his favourite slot at the international level.

Bumrah & Shami

Bumrah and Shami are very much essential in the test series. They will be coming off from the gruelling IPL. It does not make any sense to play them in T20s. Let them play the ODIs to get an understanding of the Australian wickets but they must not play in T20s.

Absolutely no information about Kumar

Again, it is baffling that Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who is an absolute best in limited overs, is not mentioned anywhere. He is neither in the T20 squad nor in the ODI squad. Yes he is injured but isn’t the selectors atleast have the courtesy to inform the public that Kumar was not considered only because of his injury? Wouldn’t that give the bowler some confidence as well? Now, Kumar himself will be unsure why isn’t he in any of the team.

Mayank Agarwal & Shubnam Gill

Also, it is time the selectors looks at Mayank Agarwal as a test specialist and a backup opener in ODIs. He must not be part of T20 squad. He is a technically sound player and T20 will certainly mess up his technique. India cannot afford that. Shubnam Gill, who is touted as the future of the Indian team, will have to play in all the games especially in Rohit’s absence. It is time to build a team for the 2023 World Cup.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a balanced team but this tour is more about the test series than about limited overs. Certainly, T20s are the last priority. The team must focus on winning the ODI series and the Test Series.

Other topics on the same subject can be read here, here and here.

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The top and middle-order let India down – 3

Ravindra Jadeja Probably the most improved batsman in the world. I will write a separate blog about Jadeja. In this test, he showed why he is preferred to Ashwin though it was never between Jadeja and Ashwin. I have always said that Jadeja plays outside of India as a specialist batsman. Everyone knows that his bowling is non-threatening in English conditions. He may take advantage of a 5th day wearing pitch and that is about it. He paced his innings beautifully. The way he manipulated strike with the tail in the first innings was excellent. If only Pant had stayed with Jadeja, the lead could have been around the 450 mark. Shardul Thakur Shardul Thakur is not an express fast bowler. As such he can never terrorise any batsman with his pace. He is in the team in overseas conditions because he can contribute with the bat. If he fails with the bat and does not keep the economy rate down and provide breakthroughs, it is tough to justify his inclusion. After the enormous partnership between Pant and Jadeja, India needed one more partnership of 50-odd runs to establish authority over England. If only Shardul had stayed with Jadeja at the point, we may have well earned another 60-75 runs. A first innings score of close to 500 would have proved quite challenging but Shardul failed with the bat at the wrong time. Moreover, his bowling was not threatening and he missed an easy sitter of Stokes. Shardul was the star performer earlier in the series and as such this one bad game should not invite condemnation. However, Shardul must realise that he is in the team for his batting as much as he is for his bowling. In hindsight, would Ashwin had been a better choice than Shardul? Maybe may not be. The only reason that I am not able to emphatically say yes is the fact that there is no proof to the contrary. As Manjrekar rightly said, he is yet to take a 5-fer in the countries that matter. With age not on his side, it is anybody’s guess whether he will be able to correct that aberration. Mohammed Shami Shami is a brilliant bowler. We know that. Shami bowls some magic balls. We know that too. Shami makes the batsmen play more often. We know that one as well. Shami is unlucky. That is the problem. He is good and he does bowl lot of excellent deliveries but if they do not fetch frequent wickets, then there is a problem that needs to be identified. A couple of wickets in the second innings just when things started to look dicey for India, would have put the game firmly in India’s grasp. His record in England is a major concern. Just 38 wickets in 13 tests, under 3 per test is not the expected return from the premier fast bowler. It is unfortunate that despite his obvious talent, he has often failed to deliver against the major teams. This is the 3rd consecutive test that India failed to defend and Shami has a lot to contribute towards that dismal record. One good thing about Shami is that he showed maturity while batting in the first innings. He gave adequate support to Jadeja which is good to see. He played the short-balls much better than Shreyas. He will have to work with experts and see where is he going wrong? Does he have to pitch the ball much closer or short? Is the length the problem? Jasprit Bumrah The captain played a blinder and absolutely annihilated Broad. Sadly, it was with the bat. With the ball however, Bumrah once again failed at the crunch. He is quickly becoming the Kohli of bowling. For someone this talented, his match winning feats are less. He is the most protected Indian bowler. He has played all but just 2 of the games outside India. Bumrah is often given a break from tests in India. It makes sense because his action is so irregular that over-bowling may result in an injury but being the bowler the opposition plays cautiously and being the premier Indian bowler, to have failed to defend scores in the last innings on three successive occasions, it really casts a big question mark on his effectiveness. Whether all the pampering, is it really worth? The Edgbaston game was the 5th time in the last 10-12 tests that Bumrah did not raise to the occasion. It includes the WTC finals in conditions that is any fast bowler’s dream. Ofcourse, he picked up 5 wickets in the test but was still unable to break the Root-Bairstow partnership. I have written that he is becoming the Kohli of bowling. Kohli is similar in the sense that when faced with a target to chase, this is about Test cricket only, he is unable to win the game with his bat. He had a couple of opportunities in South Africa in 2017 and a couple more in England in 2017. Bumrah had this one apart from the two tests in South Africa, the WTC finals and the 2nd test in New Zealand. The last one was a long shot because the target was meagre. One thing to note is that he is not the rabbit with the bat anymore. He has certainly improved on that front but it is his bowling that is required. Mohammed Siraj Siraj usually is quite expensive. Even when he is among the wickets, he is expensive but even for him, this test would have been an awakening. He was literally taken apart by both Bairstow and Root. Towards the final stages, the way Bairstow toyed with him in the last over, any bowler would have been ashamed. These are early days and he has shown sufficient skill to become the mainstay but he must also realise that being the 3rd choice bowler, his chances will be limited when India play at home. Conclusion to the top and middle-order let India down This was a golden opportunity for India to win a series in England. Ofcourse, not when they were 98/5 but once a lead of 134 runs was secured, India must have accelerated quickly and must have built an impenetrable position. The negativity of Pujara, Vihari and to an extent Kohli and Jadeja, the recklessness of Pant, the inability of Gill to make a rare opportunity count and the impotence of the bowlers in the final innings meant that India were lucky that they had an upper hand for more than 60% of the game. Remember, we played with one player less because Shreyas is literally a free wicket. By the next time, India go over to England, some of these players would have retired and whether we will get another chance in the foreseeable future, is doubtful.

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