Opinion: Team India's real preparation for the World Cup starts from the tour of Australia
Team India is at present engaged in a one-day series against the West Indies. India won the first of the five one-day series by a convincing margin of 8 wickets. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scored brilliant hundreds in the first one-day match. What is new in that? That is stating the obvious.
Kohli and Rohit scoring hundreds are like saying that every day the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. That is a universal happening, more so when the opponent is as depleted as the West Indies. It will not be too late before Shikhar Dhawan too joins in the fun.
The obvious question here is whether playing against the West Indies on home conditions is the right kind of preparation for the World Cup scheduled to be held in England in June’2019. The answer is a big NO. Playing against the West Indies on home conditions would escalate more new problems than providing solutions to old problems.
Team India’s real preparation for the World Cup in England starts from the tour of Australia and will be sustained right through the New Zealand tour and culminate all the way into the World Cup in England.
In what way the twin tour will help India by way of preparation for the World Cup?
#1 The conditions in Australia and New Zealand are going to be similar to England. If anything, in England the ball is expected to swing more.
#2 The West Indies bowlers are finding it difficult to go past the top 3 in the Indian batting line-up. As a result, the Indian middle-order, a perennial problem ahead of the World Cup, is untested. But in Australian pitches against bowlers of the caliber of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, the Indian top order is not expected to be as consistent as against the West Indies. A top-order collapse would expose the middle-order who will be benefitted by the experience.
The alien conditions might necessitate the inclusion of someone like an Ajinkya Rahane, who is technically sound to counter the conditions. The out-of-form player like an M.S. Dhoni might strike gold on the fast and bouncy pitches of Australia rather than on the slow and low pitches of India. The competence of batsmen like an Ambati Rayadu, Kedar Jadhav, K.L. Rahul or a Rishabh Pant would be well tested in Australia and New Zealand before going to England for the World Cup.
#3 At present, on Indian conditions, India are playing with 2 or 3 spinners. But in England, the conditions would aid the fast bowlers. Sometimes carrying 3 spinners in the squad might backfire as one or two of such spinners will have no role to play. The 3 spinners will have to be tested in Australia and New Zealand to assess their viability in similar conditions in England.
#4 The three Indian fast bowlers were mauled by the West Indies batsmen in the first ODI at Guwahati. Bowling on flat wickets with no assistance for the fast bowlers would do no good to the confidence of the fast bowlers. Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav would relish bowling on the fast and bouncy pitches of Australia than on the docile wickets in India. Shami and Umesh took 17 and 18 wickets respectively in the 2015 World Cup in Australia. India are on the lookout for a minimum of 2 fast bowlers to support Bhuvi and Bumrah in the World Cup. That mission would be accomplished in Australia and New Zealand.
Past patterns before the World Cup
# In 1983, India reached the World Cup in England after their tour of West Indies. The Carribean pitches those days had a lot of pace and bounce on it to suit the home team fast bowlers. India’s seed for the World Cup win in 1983 was in fact sown in the Carribean at Berbice where India beat the West Indies for the first time in a one-day match.
# Before the 1992 World Cup in Australia, India played a total of 14 ODIs in the triangular series involving Australia and the West Indies. The Indians had a distinct advantage of being in Australia for 3 months before the World Cup started. But all those preparations came to nothing as India crashed out of the World Cup in the round robin stages itself. After India’s exit, too much of preparation and fatigue were given as reasons for their early exit.
# Before the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, India toured New Zealand where they faced similar conditions. Though India lost that low scoring series, it helped India in their World Cup preparations. As it turned out, the Indian team led by Sourav Ganguly reached the final of World Cup 2003 in South Africa. Perhaps a different decision by Ganguly at the toss in the final against Australia could have produced a different result for India.
# Before the World Cup 2015 in Australia, India played four one-day matches against Australia and England in Australia. It did help India as India reached the semi-final of World Cup 2015 winning all the matches on the way. But India’s luck ran out in the semi-final as they were up against the home team Australia. Whatever little chance India had of upsetting Australia evaporated the moment Dhoni called wrong at the toss.
From the above, it is somewhat clear that the matches played by India leading into previous World Cups had helped them to prepare for the World Cup. This time around, the BCCI is astute enough to schedule the Australia and New Zealand tour before the World Cup in England. This would be a nice preparation for the players going into the World Cup. These two tours should help the team management to identify the best-suited players for the World Cup.
Hence, Team India’s real preparation for the World Cup 2019 starts from the tour of Australia.