India solving final puzzle before World Cup

NEW DELHI: Defeats are generally followed by an examination of grey areas. It makes loopholes more visible. Sometimes, things looking impeccable a while ago start appearing vulnerable. Ahead of their last 50-over match before the World Cup, the Indian team has its share of these. Having lost the last two games and heading into the series-decider against Australia, they have encouraging signs as well as worries.

It’s fair to say that the selectors and team management have found the right men for most of the jobs. In batting, the top three exude positive vibes. The middle-order part featuring MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav appears to be in reliable hands. The specialist bowlers look capable of taking wickets at different stages of an innings. Pacers and spinners both give the captain that confidence, assuming that the failure to defend of 358 in the fourth ODI was an exception.

There is still a hole in the heart of the middle-order at No 4, which has not been mended. As result, Virat Kohli’s team will carry question marks as far as this position is conce­­r­ned, into a long tournament where each part of the system has to perform. Ambati Rayudu and KL Rahul are the primary candidates and even Vijay Shankar may emerge as an unexpected option. Irrespective of who it is, the team will head into the World Cup knowing that the resources are either not fully tested or have failed to make chances count. A high-profile team dreaming big should have done better.

“The team is more or less sure what the combination is going to be. But there are areas we need to address, in batting and bowling,” said bowling coach Bharathi Arun on Tuesday. “We want to try out all our options before the World Cup. That’s why we are trying out different people in different positions. Whatever has happened (series 2-2 from 2-0), I look at it as a big positive because it has come much ahead of a major tournament. It has shown us areas where we need to tighten up.”

The second and possibly the only other easily noticeable problem is the all-rounder. The injured Hardik Pandya’s absence has not been felt that badly in batting because Vijay has scored brisk and confident runs, but it has robbed India of a bowler who does more than just restricting. 

Pandya’s strike rate of a wi­cket every 43 balls doesn’t make a specialist envy, but is acceptable for a fifth bowler. He played his part in the series win in New Zealand and importantly, did not allow the opposition leeway when the regular bowlers were not in action.

The Jadhav-Vijay combine has failed to plug this hole. In four matches this series, they have gone for 250 runs off 39.3 overs between them, taking four wickets. And they are not wicket-taking options in any case. In conditions favouring batting, not all four specialists will be spot-on every day. This weakness will get even more pronounced when that happens. But then, this is something that the team has not control over, unlike its failure to solve the No 4 riddle.

Arun hinted that Vijay is seen as the man to do the job in case Pandya doesn’t recover. “He has batted brilliantly in any given position. The confidence he has gained from batting is showing in his bowling. From the 120s when he started, today he is touching 130s. Vijay has been a huge plus. Kedar will do the job (in bowling) only if necessary.” India’s preparatory experiments as a team head for the end on Wednesday, confident in general and not quite in certain departments.