India vs New Zealand: Time to check spare parts on road to England

NEW DELHI: It’s a dead rubber. Or is it?

India comprehensively wrapped up the series against New Zealand on Monday. The remaining two clashes — one being today in Hamilton — will still be crucial for the bigger picture: the World Cup.

India’s blueprint for the big-ti­cket event has pretty much be­en etched in stone. But there are a few areas that could use so­me tinkering in the seven ODIs (including this) left before the Men in Blue leave for England. With Virat Kohli being gi­ven a break, the middle-order fi­nally has the chance to get good game-time under its belt. MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Di­n­esh Karthik and Kedar Jadh­av have made chances count in re­­cent times, but those have be­en limited due to the top-order doing most of the grunt work.

Former coach and selector Anshuman Gaekwad believes that for both Thursday and Sunday (the final ODI), India should revert to the batting template used during the 2018 Asia Cup; the only time Kohli was not on their ODI roster last year. “The top-three walk into the XI for the World Cup, without question,” he explained. “And we have options for the slots below. They’ve done well, but need more time in the middle. Promoting Rayudu to No 3 (like in Asia Cup) and pushing the rest of the batsmen up by a slot — considering that Hardik Pandya will fill in below — should give them enough chances to get a few knocks in.”

But former India batsman Hemang Badani’s opinion makes visible the double-edged sword that this move is one side of. “Shubman Gill is fresh off a terrific Ranji Trophy run. If they don’t try him out in these matches, Australia (they will play five ODIs in India) will be too late. Yes, these matches will be crucial for the World Cup, and including him will eject one of the other middle-order guys. But if Gill makes a big impact here, then India may be tempted to try him out in that se­ries. And if he does well th­e­re, India could end up finding another guy for England.”

That’s not the only tight-rope walk that India will have to make in these two ODIs and the five after them. Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal have brought back “wrist-spin” into headlines, but the team management could have some mulling to do, going by the two former players’ words. “They are automatic picks for the World Cup. So much so that (Ravindra) Jadeja is probably going to be si­d­el­ined. You have only a few ma­tches left, so might as well give them as much of the ball as possible,” remarked Gaekwad.

Badani treads the same line of thought in a different manner. “The two are definitely in India’s XI. But you have to cons­ider that they’re at their best when their variations aren’t exposed over a long run. Kulde­ep and Chahal have enough experience to pick up from where they’ve left off, like the latter showed in Australia.

“Keeping them under wraps wi­ll ensure that other teams do­n’t dissect their variations th­r­o­ugh video analysis. Plus, th­e­y will get enough game-time du­­­ring IPL. I’d rather that Ja­d­eja be given a look-in in New Zeal­a­nd and against Australia, so that he isn’t rusty if he’s included for the World Cup.”

Thankfully, unlike these, Mohammed Shami’s recent outings make for a happier headache, pace-battery wise. Nonetheless, India will be putting in a lot of thought at Seddon Park and the six other venues left for their World Cup dress rehearsals.

Match box

With the series already wrapped, the fourth ODI will provide India an opportunity to test their reserves. Though Shubman Gill is in the squad, he is not expected to make the cut in captain Virat Kohli’s absence. With MS Dhoni coming back to the XI, Ambati Rayudu may bat at No 3, so that Dinesh Karthik too gets game time.

200th ODI for Rohit

Nobody has scored as many double centuries as Rohit Sharma in ODIs and he is reaching a landmark number at Hamilton. This will be his 200th ODI and he gets to captain in Kohli’s absence. He has not scored a hundred in New Zealand, something he would be looking at with two matches to go.

Waiting for Kiwis

Since 2015 World Cup, the Kiwis have the best win-loss percentage at home and nobody would have thought they would head into the fourth ODI still searching for a victory. They have been outplayed in every department and have only one 100-plus stand in three matches. 

Pitch and conditions

Teams prefer chasing at Seddon Park where first innings totals are usually between 260-290. Expect the same on Thursday. A sunny day is on the cards.