Final chance to firm up World Cup plans

It is rare for skipper Virat Kohli to play the same eleven in two games. He did that and won both against Australia to take a 2-0 lead in the ongoing five-match ODI seriesThe decision to field an unchanged team in two matches raises a couple of questions, more so in view of the World Cup this summer. By fielding in Nagpur, the eleven that won the first match in Hyderabad, did Kohli mean to have a look at the winning combination again? Or does the team management think that it has found the ideal mix for the World Cup?
Going by Kohli’s elaborate explanation last week, it appe­ars the squad has been more or less finalised. He also made it clear that the performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not alter the final composition of the squad.

It could be that the selectors and the team management wa­nt to field one team in the first two games and make a couple of changes to give the other ch­allengers a chance in the third and fourth matches. Then the last match will provide one final chance for the contenders.

It sounds logical. There is a possibility that the batsmen in the top order and in the middle have yet to be slotted. The batting in the first two matches had depth with Ravindra Jadeja batting at 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has to be accommodated in the eleven. It will be interesting with Vijay Shankar looking good to bat anywhere in the order and Hardik Pandya waiting to get fitness certificate.Vijay has been a revelation. As Kohli mentioned that it was the idea of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to ask him to bowl the last over.

It could be Dhoni’s idea. He made Joginder Sharma bowl the last over of the inaugural World T20 final against Pakistan at the Wanderers and also gave the new ball to rookie Ha­rdik. He also conv­erted Kedar Jadhav from a ba­ckup to a regular bowler and he is now bowling seven-eight overs, picking crucial top-order wickets.

Vijay has proved that he could get into the team as a confident batsman alone. At Nagpur, he outplayed Kohli to make an impressive 46 off 41 balls at a critical juncture. In English conditions, he could be useful with his 125km-130km military pace if he could catch a good line and length like he did on Tuesday night. And he is a brilliant fielder.

All of a sudden, there are batsmen who could bowl decent spells and bowlers who could bat adequately in the lower order. That leaves the top order batting which is too dependent on Kohli.   The team management may not be too worried about the current inconsistent form of Shikhar Dhawan and may not like to disturb the time-tested left-right opening combination, unless they take Shane Warne’s suggestion of opening with Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma seriously. Otherwise, it is difficult to fit in Pant, converting a wicketkeeper into a fielder. He is no Dinesh Karthik to zip around the field.

Kohli is keen to take KL Rahul and if they have to find a sl­ot for Pant, who will go out is the question. Vijay has added another happy problem. Whoever has to make way should consider himself terribly unlucky. Fortunately, the bowling looks settled, though some still feel the experience of Ravich­a­ndran Ashwin could come in ha­ndy both with the ball and bat.

But he can he come in at the expense of Yuzvendra Chahal who has performed well consistently.  It is difficult to make any changes to a squad that sma­shed Australia in five consecutive ODIs, following up a 3-0 whitewash in their own backyard a month ago. The next two matches might reveal what the selectors and team management are thinking. (The writer is a veteran commentator and the views expressed are personal. He can be reached at sveturi@gmail.com)