-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
There will be experiments. Some will click, while some may not. It’s the beginning of a process that will end before the World Cup. In between, there might be fitness and form issues and new faces might come up. It’s going to be a wait and watch phase for the team as well as fans.
India versus Sri Lanka. First ODI. At Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium on Tuesday. The second ODI to be played at this venue is crucial. Not because it is the first game of a three-match series. Not because local authorities are making special arrangements to ensure there are no snakes in the stadium. In a T20 match between India and South Africa last year, one was seen crawling across the ground.
This match is important because in a way, it starts India’s quest to find the right combination for the World Cup to be held in the country in October-November. Yes, the marquee event is some time away and a lot of things can happen before that. But the process to assess what might work and what might not, should start now, especially after the ODI series defeat in Bangladesh in December.
There are two ways of looking at the Bangladesh setback. The two matches India lost were close affairs. In both, India appeared to be in a strong position before letting their advantage slip. In that sense, those were narrow verdicts which could have gone either way. But it’s not acceptable that a team that aspires to win the World Cup should let that happen. That way, it was a bad effort.
But one can assume that this team has put that behind. New year, new opponents and new goals. The primary objective of the Indian team at the moment would be to find out the right combination. There are multiple options in batting, spin and fast bowling. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan even KL Rahul — there are four in the squad for the Sri Lanka series who can open. How to give them adequate chances before zooming in on the right choices will be a challenge for the team management.
The same goes for bowling. With Jasprit Bumrah ruled out again, the team has Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik in the pace department. With Hardik Pandya certain to make the XI, it has to be seen which two of the four mentioned earlier make the cut. It is a tough call and an exercise of trial and error to an extent. How the team tests them all and how it finds out who are the more effective ones will be interesting to see.
It’s a similar story in the spin wing. The squad has Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Given that two will most likely make the cut, Axar and Washington appear to have an advantage because of their batting abilities. But one never knows. Wrist spinners are considered to be X factors and Kuldeep and Chahal are proven performers. This is going to be another happy headache for the captain and coach because it’s a problem of plenty.
So starting with the first game in Guwahati on Tuesday and in the subsequent fixtures, India would like to see what the better options are. There will be experiments. Some will click, while some may not. That’s why I am calling this the beginning of a process that will end before the World Cup. In between, there might be fitness and form issues and new faces might come up. It’s going to be a wait and watch phase for the team as well as fans.