With just three and half months left until the World Cup, India are still shuffling their middle-order options.
Everything in the top three seems to be in order. The bowling department is also packed, with Jasprit Bumrah leading the charge, but everything is scattered in the middle.
Ambati Rayudu, who was almost a forgotten commodity before IPL 2018, forced his way back into Indian team to solve the middle-order muddle. A year before that, Dinesh Karthik had taken the domestic route and earnt a recall to ODIs for the Champions Trophy.
Had someone told him that he would make another comeback into the side with MS Dhoni still at the helm, he might have shooed you away. By his own admission Dhoni is the topper of the university where he is still studying.
“When it comes to Dhoni, I am studying in a university where he is the topper,” he had said during a press conference in March 2018. “He is one of the guys I have always looked up to. It is unfair to compare me with him.”
Despite the senior pros making their comebacks, the problem to iron out the flaws in the middle continues. One might say that Rayudu has done his bit to bat at No.4, but with head coach Ravi Shastri wanting Kohli to bat at No.4, the problem still lingers and probably also reveals that the confidence factor is lacking somewhere. Still, Rayudu’s seat seems to be a fixed one.
Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav – due to his bowling abilities – and Hardik Pandya select themselves automatically. There’s only one place that is left in the middle that is up for grabs, for which Karthik and Rishabh Pant will have to play the tug of war.
Karthik, who was a part of 2007 World Cup, hasn’t played a World Cup thereafter, while Rishabh was hailed as next big thing in ODIs for the home series against Windies in 2018, when he was to be dropped from the playing XI after three ODIs in which he made 41 runs from two innings.
A track record of Karthik’s performance in the past two years in one-dayers shows that he has finished the game on occasions. He may have touched the 50-plus scores just twice in 16 innings, but he has remained not out on eight occasions, returning to the changing room only after sailing the boat past the finishing line.
Despite Dhoni getting back his finishing abilities back in ODIs at the start of the year against Australia, a backup finisher will be getting a chance in World Cup squad and India need either of Karthik and Rishabh to be ready and grab the opportunity. Let us have a look at the chances that the duo has to play World Cup.
Rishabh Pant
His sudden rise after his success in Test format has led to the whole debate about who between him and Karthik should be in the squad for World Cup. Selectors seemed to have no plan for Rishabh a year ago. Even after ending IPL 2018 as the second-highest run-scorer with 684 runs the youngster found himself being dropped from the T20I squad. He wasn’t even good enough to play in the two T20Is against Ireland.
A sudden need for a Test wicketkeeper in absence of Wriddhiman Saha saw selectors preparing him for the Test challenge by making him play for India A on tour of England, a team for which he wasn’t a part of initially. Ironically, he sat out in the first game against Windies A and played two unofficial Tests against England Lions. A month later he made his debut in the third Test of the series against England, replacing Dinesh Karthik.
Rishabh’s success in the longest format of the game saw him being brought back into ODIs and making his debut in the home series. Rested for Australia ODIs after the Tests Down Under, Rishabh’s chances of making it to the World Cup team hangs with a thread for now. Though he is a healthy headache to have for World Cup, chief selector MSK Prasad opined.
“Undoubtedly he (Pant) is in contention. A healthy headache. The progression of Rishabh in the last one year is phenomenal across the formats. What we actually felt is he needs a bit of maturity now, gain more experience. That is the reason we have included him in India A series wherever possible,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
Rishabh’s final shot for sealing a World Cup spot will come only if he gets selected in the squad for home Australia series, or else IPL is always there for selectors to find out options.
India’s Rishabh Pant. (AP Photo/David Rowland)
Dinesh Karthik
He had every reason to be excited and hope for a place in the Champions Trophy team when Karthik was in full flow for Tamil Nadu in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016-17. Finishing at the top of the table in the tournament, he scored 607 runs, including a century in the final that saw Tamil Nadu win the title.
“I am not going to lie. I am always dreaming to play for India. That’s the ultimate aim. Whenever you are playing for the state, you are trying to do so well so that you can play for India,” said Karthik after the final.
Not a part of the original squad for the Champions Trophy, Karthik’s blitz saw him being called up as a replacement for Manish Pandey, who was ruled out off the tournament due to a side strain. Since then Karthik has shown is finishing abilities on occasions, but still the danger of losing his place in the national side hangs over his head.
Karthik is not a Dhoni, who has been assured of a place for the World Cup, but he is still a strong contender to do the job in the middle and in the end.
The upcoming Australia series will also be the final frontier for Karthik. Should he do well, his name would be there on the list of players who will be flying out to England. Should he fail, the competition will become fierce, with others also in the race and a final decision on who to choose between him and Rishabh left upon IPL form.
Marees
Guest
The answer as Ravi Shastri himself suggested is Virat Kohli at number 4 In such a scenario, we could have either traditional opener such as KL Rahul or Rahane or Rayudu playing one drop Else a pinch hitter such as Rishabh Pant or Hardik Pandya or Dinesh Karthik could play at one drop I used to think Dhoni was a dead weight and the Indian team doesn't need a babysitter But if Shami bowls as well as he does, then India have an attack that can take 10 wickets in any conditions In such a scenario, Dhoni's on my dead body attitude might be what India needs for the rest of the team to play around him Also Dhoni seems to bat very well with Kohli but not with lower order batsmen So Kohli at 4 & Dhoni at 5, maybe the way to go for India One wild card is Vijay Shankar. He looks good enough to bat at number 4 & he could edge Rayudu out, if India neee a few ovws of part time 'pace' bowling
Paul
Roar Guru
Pandya's a quality player for sure Dat and would be an automatic selection in just about every international ODI team, including Australia's. India though will have occasion to bowl 5 front line bowlers and that's when i can see him having a rest from the team.
dat
Roar Rookie
If you are going by just last years form then starc with an avg of 37,hazelwood with 36 and cummins with 40 odd in 2 years shouldn’t be automatic/near automatic picks, as most would say for the odi squad, if injury free. I would give him a pass for the eng odi series though given india’s pace unit of kaul and umesh leaked runs at over 6 an over without providing any break through, while their batting with a woefully out of form dhoni and past their prime players like raina ensured the req run rate was 6 or over when he came in and having dhoni thudding along meant he had to try and attack early on itself. If you look at his form in the (nz series avg 27 with the ball) and since 2017 you would see more clearly the point i made ,while also considering kedar jadhav’s contributions with the ball. I think the article was obviously stating the automatic picks from the batting unit,else bumrah would have also been named in the lineup. Also the ‘not same squad part’ was mentioned in tests under virat not odis. Before jadhav and hardik got injured they were regulars in the 11,with only no:4 spot in question at that stage.
dat
Roar Rookie
If you are going by just last years form then starc with an avg of 37,hazelwood with 36 and cummins with 40 odd in 2 years shouldn’t be automatic/near automatic picks, as most would say for the odi squad if injury free. I would give him a pass for the eng odi series though given india’s pace unit of kaul and umesh leaked runs at over 6 an over without providing any break through while their batting with a woefully out of form dhoni and past their prime players like raina ensured the req run rate was about 6 or over when he came in and having dhoni thudding along meant he had to try and attack early on itself. If you look at his form in the (nz series avg 27 with the ball) and since 2017 you more clearly the point i make ,while also considering kedar jadhav’s contributions with the ball. I think the article was obviously just on the automatic picks from the batting unit,else bumrah would have also been named. Also the ‘not same squad part’ was mentioned in tests under virat not odis.
Paul
Roar Guru
Dat, I'm not arguing anything, I'm asking why he's considered to be an "automatic" selection when his numbers aren't great. Last year, Pandya played 13 ODIs, batted 8 times and made the following scores; 3, 14, 9, 0, 21, 22, 16 & 45. He also bowled 91.2 overs for 9 wickets at 506, so going for a bit under 6 an over. It seems to me others in the Indian side have to really produce or their position's in question, but this guy doesn't do a lot, yet he's considered an automatic selection. That doesn't make sense to me. I seem to recall some comments during the India/England ODI series that India had not fielded the same team in two consecutive matches for something like 38 games. This wasn't down to injury but down to Kohli and (I assume) Shastri tinkering. The Indian team appears quite settled but this constant changes can't be good for the guys who are not "automatic selections. My apologies, I should have specified Kuldeep Yadav. I really rate this guy as an ODI spinner who I thought bowled very well in England. Assuming I was a selector and the pitches were the same for the WC as they were for the ODI series, I'd have him as one of the first names penciled. He's a genuine wicket taker who can also keep the runs down.
dat
Roar Rookie
Hardik was the reason india won the 5th odi vs nz his 45 off 22 set the game for india after the top order collapsed. His odi performances with bat ,ball and on the field all reflect similarity to a glen maxwell on what he provides for the team and based on statistics,who himself is considered a must in aust squad,so not sure how you can argue against pandya’s spot. His avg of 30 with career strike rate of 116 ,kinda puts him as india’s true finisher for setting up a big target or even giving a good cameo in a big chase. He is especially brutal against the spinners having hit 5 spinners in int cricket for hat trick of sixes(of which 4 where in odis) in the last 2 years,so had also been used as a floater to reduce the required run rate. He is there to be the X factor player like a maxwell or afridi. His bowling may not have alot going for it,but he did perform well with it on his return to int cricket in the 3rd odi . Him and kedar jadhav together complete india’s 5th bowlers overs in between them and ensures neither gets taken for alot of runs while on avg taking 1 or 2 wickets in between them. It’s a strategy you think wouldn’t work,but has been successful enough for india to not alter it.They ensure that india have proper batting depth till 7(with bhuvi at 8 who has been doing a decent job there since 2016) while also not hampering the bowling strength that much either. As for the middle order muddle part of the article ,i think maybe he meant more so the muddle india went through in the last year or so.But recent performances of dhoni ,and return of jadhav and hardik both from injury kinda gives a bit more clarity on how it’s going to be like for the Wc,although they haven’t settled down fully yet,with india chopping and changing in order to find out all the other contenders for the 15 man squad. Also which yadav were you talking about? Umesh?
Paul
Roar Guru
Rishav, you've confused me. The tile of this piece refers to a middle order muddle in the Indian one day side but then you make the comment; "Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav – due to his bowling abilities – and Hardik Pandya select themselves automatically. There’s only one place that is left in the middle that is up for grabs" I'm not sure how you can call a question of who plays in one middle order spot a "muddle"? I'm also wonder why Pandya "selects himself automatically"? Have a look at his last few ODI series and he's hardly scored a run, mostly thanks to the guys batting so well above him, but hasn't done a lot with the ball either. Why wasn't Yadav picked in your team? I thought he was outstanding in the last ODI series India played in England and I'd have him as one of the first guys chosen, if he could play for Australia. It will be interesting to see what Kohli/Shastri do with the lineup. They seem to like playing with it for some reason, so I can see a few guys getting a chance.
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
2 of so called top 3 were exposed against moving ball in NZ whenever ball moved. Same is going to happen if ball moves around in UK. Number 4 should go to dhoni, he is one player reliable in any situation. I think k jadav should get number 5. Pandya at 6. Jadeja 7. Followed by bumrah, bhuvaneshwar, shami/ Ishant, chahal. Saying this , Indian selectors better keep in mind that , in this world cup , almost every team has a settled & strong bowling line up. Their batsman is going to be tested. And from the performance in Australia & NZ , it is not a big confidence booster how they performed against particular bowler who had variations on slower pitches or against the moving ball.