Road to ICC World Cup 2019: The missing link in India's squad
Another series wrapped up with another dominant performance. With the World Cup just around the corner, team India's prospects look pretty good and it can be safely said that India along with England is the favourite to lift the World Cup. They have two of the modern-day greats of limit overs cricket in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
In Kuldeep Yadav, they have arguably one of the best spin bowlers in the world right now and he's been ably supported by Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are a potent new ball attack with Bumrah also a potent weapon in the death overs.
Ambati Rayudu seems to have cemented his spot at no.4 with consistent contributions as well. But in all these highs there's one glaring weakness that could be a reason to India's World Cup campaign getting derailed. And in many ways, it is something that inevitably makes England a better ODI team than India.
India just does not have a finisher right now. They have a very solid and arguably the best top 3 in the world right now. Rayudu is slowly turning into a reliable no.4. A very potent attack in Bumrah (who is currently the No.1 bowler in ODI ratings), Bhuvneshwar, Kuldeep, Chahal, and Jadeja backs up the batting effort.
If a direct comparison is made with England they do match up pretty well in every department. But what they have as finishers in Stokes, Ali and Buttler trumps what India currently have in Dhoni, Jadeja and the third position which is still up for grabs. Will it be Kedar Jadhav? Hardik Pandya? Even Manish Pandey? It is still anyone's guess. Somewhere during the last tour to England, India lost out because of that in ODIs and this is one area where India needs to start focusing on soon enough.
The Dhoni conundrum
MS Dhoni is one of the greatest finishers ever that the game has witnessed. But at the same time, there is no doubt that he just cannot start hitting off the blocks as easily as he used to at one point in time. Persisting with him at the same position has led to appalling results recently as he's going through one of the worst phases of his career. He's still a potent batsman and his fitness is still one of the best in the game.
With the star power he garners, he just can't be dropped and his experience is almost too invaluable to drop him. What he lacks is the time in the middle. Maybe fixing his slot at No.4 and keeping Rayadu at no.5 could be the way forward? All depends on how proactive the team is because time is running out.
Solving the Jadhav puzzle
Kedar Jadhav in his small career has ticked many boxes, he's made good contributions, he averages 40 plus and his spin bowling provides an added dimension to his game. One box that he doesn't tick is the one because of which he was again left out of the team recently.
Twice in recent times has Jadhav's hamstring given away and it has raised doubts on how much load his body can take. For now, Jadhav does look set to be part of the starting eleven but it would be wise of the think thank to look at an alternative may be in the form of Krunal Pandya who himself can provide fireworks and bowl decent left-arm spin.
Hardik or Jadeja or both?
Such has been Jadeja's performances ever since Hardik Pandya has injured himself that the Indian team would be in a huge dilemma when Pandya is fit and ready to come back. In Hardik, India has a third fast bowling all-rounder who can prove to be an asset in English conditions.
To add to this, Pandya has shown the ability to smash any bowling attack out of the ground. On the other hand, you have Jadeja, a potent spin bowling option and a reliable batsman lower down the order. It all depends on the combination India would opt for. With the lack of firepower down the order, it does seem that Hardik should get the nod either ways. Would that mean curtains for Jadeja? It all depends on the combination India opt for.
One of the reasons India was able to lift the cup in 2011 was the strong middle to lower order that the team had. Matches were won from the brink by Yuvraj, Raina, and Dhoni himself (in the final).
It does seem that India would be able to maximize their resource utilization if they opt for the batting order of Dhoni, Rayudu, Jadhav and Pandya at 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively. It would provide sufficient time for Dhoni to anchor and build his innings and India will have decent firepower in the end which can play around Dhoni.
Just a tweak in the batting order could be the key to increasing India's chances in the coming World Cup but the question is whether the team thinktank would be proactive enough to identify such a glaring weakness and try to fix it.