Does India have the best ODI batting line-up in the world?
The best batting line-up in the world?
The Indian cricket team has historically been a very batsman-oriented team. Yes, we have had our fair share of good bowlers – Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh and many more – but the focus has always been on the men who master the art of willow-wielding.
Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, M.S. Dhoni and so many more have made history time and again. India’s rise to the top of the ODI table has been made possible by a World Cup win, a Champion’s Trophy win and numerous bilateral and trilateral series wins. One common observation made during this period is that we haven’t had bowlers who consistently won matches for us. So based on this observation, one would have to ask – does India have the best batting order in the world?
To answer this question, I look at recent cricket records, i.e, post April 2011. The Indian team has gone through major changes since then. To prove this, I show you the batting order from the World Cup final and the final of the tri-series against Sri Lanka.
The WC final batting order-Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, M.S. Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina.
The batting order of the final of the tri-series-Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, M.S. Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
Out of the top seven, only three remain, and all the four that have left have had a major impact on the batting line up.
Somehow, India have managed to stay afloat. Actually, they’ve been doing rather well, in the ODI arena at least. Maintaining the number one rank isn’t easy, especially when they’ve been faring pretty badly in the longest format and not as good as they would want in the shortest. They’ve tried many different players over the last two years, and have finally struck a good combination. So good, in fact, that a player like Cheteshwar Pujara can’t find a place in the line-up.
With Rohit Sharma’s new sense of responsibility and want to play an innings that lasts longer than the advertisement break that follows his departure and the advent of the moustache-wielding Shikhar Dhawan, the opening pair looks settled. Then comes Kohli, current hothead, future captain, who isn’t as tremendous as he was when he initially burst on to the scene, but reliable nonetheless. Then there is the comeback man, Dinesh Karthik. The jury hasn’t given a verdict on him yet, but he seems to have been bitten the same bug of responsibility as Rohit Sharma.
With the top four positions somewhat stable, we move on to the next three. A characteristic feature of Indian batting has been a top order collapse followed by a middle order rescue, which means that numbers 5, 6 and 7 are pivotal.
Who better to kick things off than Suresh Raina? Raina is sort of touch and go. There’s very little middle ground when it comes to him. There is no doubt that he’s an amazing finisher, but in the face of a collapse he doesn’t really stick it out and play the long innings; which is why captain Dhoni has so much more responsibility.
Dhoni 3.0, as I like to call him, reinvented himself following the home loss to England, and went from Captain Cool to the leader against lethargy. Whether it is on the field on between the wickets, he’s become more energetic than ever. He can play the long innings or a quick onslaught and has been the saviour of our team more times than one can count. An interesting fact is that he has not missed a single home game following the World Cup till the Pakistan series.