The Asia Cup win, what does it mean for India? For starters, it was a title win after a gap of 5 years. That will give the team encouragement just before the start of the ODI World Cup. By now, the Indian squad would have forgotten what it is like to taste success in a multi-nation tournament. Now, they will know that it tastes sweet. At the sametime, let us also remember that we were the overwhelming favourites despite the bowling resource of Pakistan. This title win was very much par for the course. Does it mean that there weren’t any positives for the side? Does it mean that the team remains where they were before? Well, not really. Let me analyse a bit further.
As I had written above, the first positive for the team is the confidence in winning the title. This Indian side, especially, Virat Kohli, has never tasted much success in a multi-nation tournament. Ofcourse, he was part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup and he was the captain when India won the U19 World Cup but that was in the early part of his career. As the captain, success eluded him throughout his tenure. Even when India won the Asia Cup in Dubai a few years ago, Kohli chose to skip the tournament and it was Rohit who captained the team. Hence, this win will certainly boost the confidence of none otherthan Kohli and that means, he will be primed for further success.
The second positive
Almost all the batsmen were among the runs. I have written almost because Shreyas Iyer, did not damage the scoresheet in the only game he played. Otherwise, everyone else had atleast one decent outing and that includes Gill. Against Bangladesh, he stood at the wicket like a rock when other batsmen fell around him. With a bit of support for Gill, India could have ended the tournament having not lost a single game. Gill himself must have gone onto win the game for the team because he had Axar Patel for company who is more than a decent batsman. However, Kohli’s 77th hundred, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan runs against Pakistan when the team looked like would be cobbled up for less than 150 will keep the team in a positive mindset just before the World Cup.
Ishan Kishan is probably here to stay. He did pretty well throughout the tournament with the innings against Pakistan topping everything else. Once Shreyas Iyer is back, it remains to be seen whether he will replace Kishan or will Kishan be retained. With consistent runs, especially down the order, he has made the task of the management that much more harder.
The third positive
Indian bowling was not given much credit because they do not inspire the same awe as the Pakistan bowlers or the South African bowlers. They do not intimidate the batsmen like some of the best in the world. However, in Siraj and Bumrah, the Indian team seems to have formed a potent new-ball pair. Mohammed Shami who Siraj replaced, has the knack of defeating the batsmen by the way he moves the ball but does not really pick up wickets at the beginning of the innings. Siraj’s spell in the final, it is something India needs time and again to instill fear in the opposition. Kuldeep Yadav is another who impressed on his comeback. 5 wickets for 21 against decent players of spin like Pakistan, which will increase his confidence tremendously.
Not that long ago, Kuldeep was considered a bowler who was on the decline but he seems to have reversed that tremendously. Leg-spinner and that too of the left-arm variety is extremely rare in the game. If he can maintain his fitness and form, he can prove to be the difference between the 2019 World Cup and the 2023 World Cup. His talent was never in question but his temperament and the will to improve were perhaps missing. Perhaps, he was drafted into the squad way too early for his own benefit. With experience, he may turnout to be the bowler that he always threatened to. The dismissal of Handscomb at Dharamsala still stays fresh in the minds of anyone who watched that game.
Were there any negatives?
Well, ofcourse there were. Rohit Sharma has tried to stay positive but he is not going onto score the massive hundreds that he is known for. It will be inordinate to ask Rohit to repeat his performance in the 2019 World Cup but a few more runs from his blade, principally in the important games, will prove invaluable. He remains the only Indian captain to have won a major ACC or ICC trophy since the Dhoni era.
The team management’s propensity to rest Bumrah time and again. He is just back from a lengthy lay-off because of an injury. He has hardly played a handful of games when he was again rested from the Bangladesh game. It is all well and good to protect him from burnout but so close to the World Cup and for someone who is short of game time, to rest him frequently, the management is actually doing him a disservice. Let us also remember that he missed the game against Nepal for the birth of his child. So, what was the need to rest him against Bangladesh? This was utter nonsense.
Shreyas’s continued struggle against the short-ball. By now, the world has realised his weakness and will not hesitate to pepper him with quite a few. Will he have an answer? That is ofcourse, provided he is fit.
Wrapping up the Asia Cup win
There is no doubt that it was a good win but bigger and firmer challenges await the team.