TALKING POINTS
Follow UsAfter the crushing defeat at the hands of Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, there was this massive debate on what India’s plan for the future will be. There were a lot of expectations, some insisting that a new-look Indian team could be a future of domination, some insisting that they could play exciting cricket, but does the squad reflect that?
There are some interesting calls, Cheteshwar Pujara, the vice-captain, has been dropped for the second time in the last two years after a failure in the final. Ajinkya Rahane, who made a stunning comeback being India’s best batter in the final, has been named the vice-captain.
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Does it mean anything?
Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s future No.3?
Pujara’s exclusion wasn’t a shock by any stretch of the imagination. Since the start of the 2021-23 WTC cycle, Pujara has been India’s second-highest run-scorer, with 928 runs, only four runs behind India’s highest run-scorer, Virat Kohli. Both have similar numbers, but Pujara has been excluded from the squad, perhaps for the last time.
But who replaces Pujara? That’s perhaps the question that is making the round. From the squad, there exists only one name: Yashasvi Jaiswal. For everyone stunned, Jaiswal has perenially played as an opener in the longest format, but he’s played twice at that No.3 position over the last year or so.
In the two matches he’s batted at No.3, the southpaw scored 377 runs, averaging a high 125.67. But that’s not the only reason he’s been picked in the squad, his aggressive batting style and approach at the crease has been eye-catching, with a strike rate of 82.3. Even his overall strike-rate in the longest format has been 67.5, which is probably the direction that India are looking at.
India’s new-look pace attack
One of the biggest news from the squad announcement is that Mohammed Shami has been rested from the entire tour. That essentially has given the others in the squad an opportunity to stake their claim. Mohammed Siraj is certain but what about the others? Shardul Thakur, who started the WTC final, could be a feature, but it will be interesting to see the angle of India progressing from the other end.
There’s Jaydev Unadkat, who is head and shoulder above all of the pacers in the Indian domestic circuit. The left-arm seamer, since 2020, has picked up 98 First-Class wickets, averaging 15.9 with a strike rate of 32.3 on the most lifeless of wickets at Rajkot.
Mukesh Kumar is also quite good, with 87 wickets, averaging 22.4, and has even played a vital role for India ‘A’ with 18 wickets. On pacy wickets like in West Indies, his ability to reverse the ball has earnt him a place in the Indian setup. It will be interesting to see whether he would pip senior player Navdeep Saini.
In the white-ball format, Saini has been reduced to memes. But when you actually look at his numbers for India ‘A’, there is a clear understanding of why he is picked in the setup. Saini offers pace and the ability to ruffle opposition in a one-dimensional bowling unit. But then there’s a catch, like always in Indian cricket, Saini has played just the five red-ball games since 2020, questioning his place in the setup.
Where is India’s succession plan, does it exist?
India’s vice-captain is Ajinkya Rahane, is 35. And that’s not even the biggest surprise, the biggest surprise remains where is India’s succession plan? It also raises a big question, does that vice-captain role really make any sense in this Indian setup? Prior to this year, India had KL Rahul as their vice-captain, who then passed the role to Cheteshwar Pujara, and now Rahane.
Rahane only found himself a place in the Indian setup after the injuries to Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. But now, handing him the vice-captain role only dilutes the role and the importance that surrounds it. Aren’t they looking at the West Indies to groom a captain? Or the absence of Pant and Iyer ruined their plans?
Also, if they were looking for someone to be an able deputy, why not Ravichandran Ashwin? Does that mean that Ashwin isn’t a sure-shot starter for the series?
India persist with Umran Malik in ODIs
Umran Malik. No one in the country has had a more dividing opinion than the speedster from Jammu and Kashmir. Umran’s ability to hit a high pace made him a high-selling property in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but ever since that happened, his stocks have always come crashing down.
Umran has played eight ODIs thus far and has picked up 13 wickets, averaging 27.30. Now, he’s looked solid in the starting few clashes; his form has waned away as the ODIs have progressed. His economy rate of 6.45 is a definite concern, and the worry doesn’t end there either.
In eight IPL clashes this year, the right-arm speedster picked up just five wickets, averaging 43.4 and has an economy rate of 10.9. Even Sunrisers Hyderabad dropped him multiple times during the IPL season, but for India to persist with him is an interesting call.
Neither Washington nor Ashwin, who has India spinning off?
In a World Cup year leading to the World Cup, India still are confused about the off-spinner spot. Neither has Ravichandran Ashwin, who has found his mojo back in the white-ball format found himself a return in the ODI setup, nor has Washington Sundar, who was earmarked to be the off-spinner in the Indian 50-over team.
Washington’s year has been peculiar. The off-spinner hasn’t had a consistent run of form and has also suffered multiple injuries on multiple occasions and has found himself out of the reckoning. Not just that, the off-spinner also has gone wicketless in the ongoing edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), essentially making his own return to the Indian setup a rather tough task.
