India vs Australia 2019: Is experimenting the best strategy for Team India?
Very few teams have sufficiently strong bench strength going in to the World Cup 2019. India is right at the top of that list. They bat deep, have a lot of all-rounders and possess a lethal bowling attack.
There is no doubt that the best team needs to be picked for the mega event, and that can be done only when different players are tried out. But too much of experimentation can cause confusion too. It's like too much of anything is a problem, and too less is also an issue; you need the exact right amount.
To relate that to the Indian team, too much of chopping and changing with respect to the team selection may not necessarily lead to the desired results.
India go into the final ODI against Australia knowing that there are question marks around the middle order. Do they have time to fix it before the World Cup? I think not. The selectors are not at all close to finalizing the players for the middle order; they are definitely spoiled for choice.
With this being the last international game before the World Cup, ideally you would want the team finalized and have replacements ready if any of the players get injured.
I strongly believe India should play to their full strength and select the best XI for the fifth ODI. Unfortunately this won't happen though as MS Dhoni has been rested for the last 2 ODIs.
There are question marks over KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar. But the bigger question that the selectors would face is what happens when Hardik Pandya gets fit.
Will he come in naturally without match practice? Can the IPL be considered as a substitute for international games? Will India play three all-rounders in England? The answers can only be given by Ravi Shastri and MSK Prasad.
India opted for the strategy of testing their players and /or reserves in the last three ODIs (including one to be held tomorrow). Instead, they could have rested their top players for the first two ODIs and experimented in those, and then for the last three ODIs play to their full strength.
This could have potentially put an end to all the question marks or at least a majority of them.
Now they have too many options, and are possibly out of time to figure out the ideal combination. Whilst experimenting is the right way to go, one has to be cautious and not go overboard with it either.