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Difficult Questions: India’s Top-Order Replacements & Kohli’s Rest

After the series win against New Zealand, Team India still have a few concerns.

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The Indian team has dominated the 50-over landscape for the last few years. Barring the ICC Champions Trophy Final in 2017 and the three-match One-Day series in England in 2018 – which have been the two major blemishes in the last few years – the Indian team have been pretty ruthless in the One-Day format.

No team has a better record than Team India’s in this period. Among all the other ODI-playing nations, England have a similar record in this period; at 72.73 percent, they have exactly the same win percentage as India’s, except that they’ve played 11 games fewer.

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After the series win against New Zealand, Team India still have a few concerns.
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Given very few opponents have challenged the Indian team in the recent past, it was expected that the five-match One-Day series against New Zealand – who were ranked number three in the ICC ODI rankings – would be a closely-contested one – particularly given the Kiwis’ outstanding record at home. That’s not how things panned out though, as Team India disdainfully brushed aside the Kane Williamson-led side, taking a 3-0 lead in the series.

India won the first ODI by 8 wickets (DLS Method), beat the hosts by 90 runs in the second ODI, and clinched the series in the third match, winning by 7 wickets (with 7 overs to spare).

Concerns, Despite a Win

While India winning matches and dominating the cricket landscape reads good and feels hunky-dory, I am also a little concerned. There has been a method to India regularly getting the better of their opponents – and therein lies the concern. The World Cup is not too far away, and India have generally employed the one formula repeatedly – particularly on the batting front. The worry is if the Indian team has a ‘Plan B’, a ‘Plan C’ or any plans for a rainy day.

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The top three – comprising Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – has been the engine room of the team for the last couple of years. Here are some stats which pertain to ODIs since 2017:

  • One of those three batsmen has been India’s innings top-scorer in 42 of the 55 ODIs.
  • India’s top three are also the top three run-getters in the world.
  • Between them, Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli have scored in excess of 7,500 runs.
  • Between them, Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli have won a total 19 Man of the Match awards
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Now, that is some level of domination, and dependency too! What if one of the players hits a lean patch in the IPL 2019 and carries it to the World Cup? What if one of the top three gets injured? Who does the Indian team management look to then to be the team’s match-winners?

No Contingency Plan?

One has to ask if the Indian selectors have missed a trick to plan for contingency? Who are the players capable of filling into any vacancy in the top-order that may emerge before or during the World Cup? Who are the openers on standby? Who can play the role played by Rohit, Dhawan and Virat?

Ajinkya Rahane, who last played an ODI in February 2018, has served the selectors a timely reminder by scoring consecutive half-centuries for India A against a good England Lions attack. Admittedly, the Mumbai batsman has struggled in recent times – but given his strong fundamentals (technique and temperament) and the fact that he can fit into a variety of roles, he should be on the selector’s radar.

The one other player who is capable of stepping into the top-order role is KL Rahul, whose career has taken a nosedive recently. If the Bangalore-lad is in the selectors’ scheme of things for the World Cup, he needs to be spoken to, needs to be given plenty of confidence and given lots of game-time.

The inclusion of Shubman Gill is an interesting one; there is no doubting the 19-year old’s talent and that he knows how to score runs. The question though is if the selectors are seriously looking at him as a World Cup option. If they are, why didn’t they pick him in the squad in the first place?

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After the series win against New Zealand, Team India still have a few concerns.
Virat Kohli will be missing the remainder of the New Zealand tour to rest.
(Photo: AP)

Timing of Kohli’s Rest Surprising

Between the end of the third ODI against New Zealand, and the start of the World Cup in May, India have a total of 7 ODIs left. Captain Virat Kohli has decided to miss the last two ODIs against the Kiwis.

One has to ask – given how close to the World Cup this series is being played – if the decision to rest captain Kohli has been well-thought out? The Indian captain needs to be in the thick of things in every ODI India plays before the World Cup. Whatever coach Ravi Shastri and stand-in captain Rohit Sharma decide in the next two ODIs might not necessarily be in sync with Kohli’s methods. For instance, MS Dhoni’s batting position; while Kohli prefers Dhoni at number five or six, Rohit has in the past admitted that he feels Dhoni is best utilised at number four.

Kohli’s absence from the team in the middle of a series also affects the team’s dynamics. Who bats at number three now? Gill at three, which will mean the rest of the order should remain intact? Or Rayudu at three, which will mean an additional batsman or all-rounder down the order? Either way, it will a completely different strategy employed to the one used in the first three matches.

Being the best batsman in the world – along with it the captain of one of the most popular cricket teams – comes with certain responsibilities too. Kohli is a hot favourite around the world and a crowd puller too. By resting him midway through the series, the Indian selectors are depriving cricket fans in New Zealand the chance to see the best batsman in action.

Could Virat Kohli have not honoured all fixtures on this tour – having been named by the selectors in both the ODI & T20I squads previously, and instead miss the first two weeks of the IPL?

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Topics:  Indian Cricket Team 

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