SELECTION DILEMMAS PERSIST AS TEAM INDIA FINE TUNES FOR ODI WORLD CUP!!

The great scientist, Thomas Edison had said, “good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” Sadly, over the past few weeks of India’s tour to the West Indies, planning has been the biggest missing factor. They lost a One Dayer against the weak Windies team that failed to even qualify for the coming World Cup and then lost the first two T20s also against them before winning the third game. Injuries to key players have hampered India greatly but continuous chopping and changing of players has left a big question mark over Team India’s final 15 for the Asia Cup and the World Cup now less than two months away.

In the marquee event of the year - the ODI World Cup – Team India is slated to play its first match against Australia on 8th October in Chennai. While most teams around the world have their line-ups sorted months back, India is struggling to find the best balance for their team. Though there are many players injured and recovering currently, India has the luxury of many world class talents waiting in the wings. The poor utilization of these players and backing them, once they have been identified as potential match winners, is what has prevented Team India from crystallising its best combination till now.

Unfortunately, two major batsmen - KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer- are still recovering from their surgeries and India is desperate to find their middle order replacements. The Windies tour was a perfect time for Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson to seal their spots but constant fiddling in the batting order has meant that they are yet to establish themselves in the One Day unit. Though a huge crowd favourite, Suryakumar is yet to reaffirm the faith that fans have in him and needs to discover a special gear for the ODIs as he seems stuck in playing T20 style even in the longer 50-over format, the fact that he admitted recently.

Sanju Samson has not been sufficiently backed by Indian selectors and has played sporadically. His place has constantly been under threat which is not an ideal scenario for any player in any team. Sanju made his international debut in 2015 after a string of impressive performances in the IPL but he’s got very few chances as he gets dumped far too quickly. Moreover, Sanju is a dynamic batter, one who can be sent in both at the start of the innings or in the middle order. And, of course, he’s a seasoned wicket keeper who would be quite useful in Rishabh Pant’s absence and the lingering uncertainty over Rahul.

This Windies tour was also a perfect chance for India to try out Yashaswi Jaiswal in the ODI format. He did splendidly well in the domestic circuit but ultimately shone through because of his IPL performances. He was pushed into the Indian Test side while his credentials screamed for him to be included in the ODI team too. Currently, Virat and Rohit have been rested to test out the bench strength and it was the perfect time for Yashasvi to open the innings in the ODI format after his dazzling Test debut with Ishan Kishan batting in the middle order in the absence of injured K.L. Rahul. But this wasn’t tried out at all as Jaiswal was royally ignored for the ODI series!

India’s bowling line up is still not confirmed with Bumrah coming back from a long lay off after his injury. If fully fit, he will pair up with either Shami or Siraj. In such a scenario, it was utterly confusing to see Jaydev Unadkat getting into the fray and being considered as part of team plans. India already has an in-form Arshdeep Singh who can fulfil the role of a left-hand fast bowler, if needed. Such selections only send wrong signals through the team!

But the team management will be very pleased with Kuldeep Yadav’s recent success. It also points out the importance of wrist spinners in the game. As such, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kudeep both need to be given enough game time ahead of the World Cup. Only problem is the lack of batting talent in both these spinners which could see the selection of Ravi Ashwin in the squad. India also misses an offie in its ranks and Ashwin with his guile and experience seems the best choice.

Besides being the hosts of the ODI World Cup, Team India has a rich history in the 50-over format having won the World Cup in 1983 and 2011. There is a keen sense of anticipation among Indian fans for this mega-event and the sooner the squad gets finalized, the greater is the hope of glory for Team India at the 2023 ODI World Cup!

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Siddhaarth Mahan The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi film industry