This headline isn’t a reactionary article following India’s loss to Australia at the SCG.
It’s the harsh truth that Virat Kohli and the Indian selectors need to accept.
Ever since Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped from the Indian ODI team after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final, India have always found themselves exposed with the tail in their ODI team. Let’s have a look at India’s bowlers in the ODI squad that have travelled to Australia.
Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
Bar Shardul Thakur, who is known in Indian domestic cricket for his late cameos, the rest aren’t known for their batting prowess. As for Thakur, his ODI economy of seven after 12 ODIs means it won’t be long before he gets dropped unless he improves drastically with the ball. So how does India solve this issue?
Here are the bowlers/all-rounders that should be in contention for India’s ODI squad within the next 12 months.
Shreyas Gopal (bowling all-rounder)
List A stats – 400 runs, 22.22 average, zero 50s, zero hundreds, 94.33 strike rate, 64 wickets, 22.57 average, 26.4 strike rate, 5.11 economy
Having been mentored by Shane Warne over the past few years in the IPL, Shreyas Gopal has improved a lot as a leg-spinner. Not afraid to lure batsmen with flight and dip, Gopal is a proven bowler in List A cricket with the odd cameo with the bat when required. Add in Kuldeep Yadav’s poor form and Gopal’s chances of making the Indian ODI squad soon are pretty high.
Krishnappa Gowtham (bowling all-rounder)
List A stats – 530 runs, 22.08 average, one 50, zero hundreds, 139.47 strike rate, 67 wickets, 27.52 average, 35.4 strike rate, 4.65 economy
If there was anyone who could challenge Hardik Pandya as India’s most powerful hitter, it’d be Gowtham. Alongside Shreyas Gopal, the duo have played a key role in Karnataka winning white-ball tournaments for fun over the past few years.
With Ravindra Jadeja hardly winning India many matches since his recall in September 2018, it’s time for India to move on from Jadeja in ODIs and look for alternatives. Gowtham’s List A strike rate shows he’s more than ready to deliver when required with the bat and with the ball. He can use his height to effect and generate decent bounce and turn.
Does Virat Kohli need to inject some fresh blood into his squad? (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Anukul Roy (all rounder)
List A stats – 474 runs, 31.6 average, two 50s, zero hundreds, 110.48 strike rate, 27 wickets, 26.18 average, 34.2 strike rate, 4.58 economy
As the strike rate shows, Anukul Roy is another player who likes to take on the bowlers with willow in hand. A like-for-like replacement for Jadeja in all facets, Roy bowls left-arm orthodox and his progress has impressed Indian selectors so far.
Still only 21 and a part of India’s under-19 World Cup-winning campaign, Roy is tipped to have a bright future. Is Roy ready to be thrown into the deep end? You can’t tell unless he gets a chance to don the Indian colours in ODI cricket.
Jaydev Unadkat (bowler)
List A stats – 133 wickets, 30.01 average, 36.9 strike rate, 4.87 economy
ODI stats – eight wickets, 26.12 average, 39.0 strike rate, 4.01 economy
When players such as Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav get many opportunities in ODI cricket but Jaydev Unadkat gets disregarded for over seven years, it makes you wonder if the BCCI really care about List A tournaments.
For years, Unadkat has shown his mettle in List A cricket alongside the limited ODI opportunities he’s had to date. India have yearned for a left-armer since Zaheer Khan’s retirement, but Unadkat never got the backing that he deserved. While Unadkat hasn’t shown his batting skills in List A cricket to the best of his abilities, a strike rate of 123 in T20 cricket and six first-class 50s shows he’s more than capable with the bat.
For India to go into this ODI series with only one all-rounder knowing Hardik Pandya was unlikely to bowl was stupidity and carelessness at its finest. Considering the wide talent pool India have at their disposal, it was surprising to see them not utilise it.
While not every ODI team will be able to possess a long batting line-up such as England, you can’t be going into games with five bowling options and four tail-enders. Every ODI team that competed in the 2019 ICC World Cup has a batting line-up that had capable boundary hitters until at least number nine bar India.
For India to change their style of ODI cricket and become a more successful team to win ICC titles, they need to include bowlers who can also bat. While I’m not saying stack the team with all-rounders, it’s important to have bowlers who can bat and bail the batsmen out on an off day, which can happen anytime.
India’s best ODI XI, squad and reserves at full strength
XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (captain), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Anukul Roy, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Bench for 15-man squad: Mayank Agarwal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper)
Reserves: Deepak Chahar, Ishan Porel, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitish Rana, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube
Marty
Roar Rookie
Developing bowlers who can bat doesn’t happen by accident. While there is a certain amount of natural talent involved there also needs to be a shift in thinking at a systemic level. Up and coming bowlers need to be given the opportunity to work on their batting. At the top levels the expectation needs to be that bowlers work on their batting as well, whether they like it or not. It’s another example of where the BCC needs to catch up to what other countries have been doing for years.
Paul
Roar Guru
As long as the replacements are better than the incumbents, that's fair enough, but if not, weakening the team to force a 6th bowler who may or may not help the attack and make runs is a serious risk. The problem isn't Jadeja, it's Pandya not bowling.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
None of India's batsmen can bowl or prefer not to. As shown yesterday, they're heavily exposed if one of their bowlers have an off day. Australia has Maxwell and Stoinis and if desperate, Finch and Smith at their disposal in the top seven. Jadeja has done nothing in ODI's to win games for India with either bat or ball. Required run rate was still in control but Jadeja's inability to rotate the strike put too much pressure on Pandya. This is where someone like Anukul Roy or Krishnappa Gowtham can come in who are as good as Jadeja with the bat if not better in limited overs. India lost 3-0 in NZ due to not having a genuine 6th bowler. Can't see why both Gill and Pandey were in the squad if the Indian selectors knew Pandya wasn't gonna be able to bowl. They need to start blooding in some newbies and give them a proper chance in the long run to ensure India aren't questioning their 15 man squad for 2023 WC like they had last year.
Paul
Roar Guru
Since Ashwin's departure in 2017, " India have always found themselves exposed with the tail in their ODI team." Arnab, you're talking about a team that has played 16 series since Ashwin's departure and has won 12 of them. They've suffered less than 20 losses in that time, so what ever formula they're using, works. There are two alternatives as I see it, play your best batsmen and bowlers, just as Australia and India do and rely on your top 6 to get a competitive total or run down an opposition score. The other method is how England does it - stack the batting and either make a huge score which is too many for the opposition to make or not worry too much about chasing, knowing you bat to 10 or 11. The English method only works if you have genuine ODI quality all rounders and they have quite a few, none of whom would get a game in either the Indian or Australian team with the exception of Ben Stokes. On the other hand, India and Australia have quality bowlers, all of whom deserve a place in the side because they're very good with the ball. Are you prepared to sacrifice quality bowlers for lesser quality players who can bat a bit? Kohli and the Indian selectors are not.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Jadeja is past it in limited overs. Yesterday's innings is one of many examples where he crumbles when the required run rate goes over 8, let alone 10. He is neither good enough to win games with the bat or ball in ODI cricket. His fielding has been poor since IPL. Kohli needs to take a stance asap on Ravindra Jadeja or else India's ODI team will continue to underperform if he carries passengers such as Jadeja and Kuldeep in the squad
Johan
Guest
The headline doesn’t make sense. It should be ‘India’s lack of bowlers who CAN bat is a big worry’. Then your squad and reserves ridiculously doesn’t include the only current Indian team Bowler who can bat, Ravi Jadeja, which completely undermines your whole article!!