Bigger Shifts In The Indian ODI Setup!

The batting order has been unsettled, bowlers have been injured and out of form, and no new talent has been given consistent opportunity to emerge. Teams expect and plan to regenerate between World Cups. A year on, India cannot claim to have unearthed any new players that promise to be part of the first team at the next World Cup.

- Sreedutta Chidananda

One-day teams are built and rebuilt in four-year-cycles, something India’s current plight clearly demonstrates. Since what was a pretty good World Cup campaign, India has had a difficult time in one-day cricket, losing series to Bangladesh, South Africa and now Australia.

The batting order has been unsettled, bowlers have been injured and out of form, and no new talent has been given consistent opportunity to emerge. Teams expect and plan to regenerate between World Cups. A year on, India cannot claim to have unearthed any new players that promise to be part of the first team at the next World Cup.

Until the final ODI of the VB Series, when Manish Pandey showed a glimpse of his enormous talent — a chance that came his way by default and not design — and Jasprit Bumrah followed up on his domestic success, there was little to be encouraged by.

Meanwhile, there have been the same unresolved issues. While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been excellent at the top of the order, there has been inconsistency below. Since the World Cup, Rohit has been India’s highest scorer, aggregating 788 runs at 65.66. Kohli is next (675 at 51.92), with Shikhar Dhawan (571 at 43.92) and Ajinkya Rahane (509 at 42.41) below.

It is positions four, five and six that have concerned India. Dhoni proclaimed Rahane was incapable of rotating the strike in the sub-continent and thus was not a good fit to bat at four — a strange thing for a captain to say in public. He had been expressing his own desire to bat at four but said he was forced to remain at six because there was no one else to finish innings off.