The England team finally found something to smile about during the ongoing series against India. The visitors held their nerves towards the end of the 3rd ODI and managed to sneak over the line and this brought down curtains on of the most keenly fought ODI contests in the recent past. Batsmen ruled the roost, and the bowlers suffered in the wake of broad bats and short boundaries.
The Indian team was the better outfit and were the deserving champions. There were plenty of positives from the Indian side and several players put up their hands to make a match-winning contribution. This augurs well for the team as they head into the Champions Trophy.
However, there were few areas of concern which the team management would want to identify and rectify. Here in this list, we take a look at 5 disappointments from the series.
#5 Ravichandran Ashwin
There is no denying the fact that R Ashwin has emerged as one of the gun bowlers for India in the Test matches. The Chennai boy has wreaked havoc on a number of teams and thoroughly deserves the number 1 tag.
However, his form and performance in the ODI series left a lot be desired. He was making a comeback into the ODI after a gap of one year, and this reflected in his approach. The normally aggressive off-spinner adopted a very defensive strategy for a majority of the ODI series and this backfired. Not only did he not pick up wickets during the middle overs, he also conceded runs at a fair clip.
His best performance came in the 2nd ODI when he decided to look for wickets, and not surprisingly claimed 3 crucial English wickets in the middle overs.
#4 Umesh Yadav
The fast bowler has come of age as a Test bowler, and he displayed admirable promise in the ODI series against New Zealand. However, he could not quite replicate this form in the first ODI, which was his only match in the series.
He did not have any control over the new white ball and leaked plenty of runs. With the old ball too he was very poor and the England batsmen looted runs for fun.
With the Champions Trophy slated to be held in England where there will be plenty of assistance for the fast bowlers, the form of Umesh Yadav could be problematic.
#3 Ajinkya Rahane
The career of Ajinkya Rahane is in a strange spot. Few would doubt his pedigree as a batsman across all formats but his spate of low scores in the recent past has put his place under the scanner.
He can still be assured of a place in the Test team, but his ODI spot appears to be on thin ice. Drafted into the squad in place of Shikhar Dhawan for the 3rd ODI, the Mumbai boy did not look at ease during his short stay at the crease.
Rahane is a touch player who is blessed with timing, but too often in the limited overs format he tries to force the issue and ends up paying a hefty price for it.
He is no longer in the T20 side, and the failure in the 3rd ODI could well resonate in his future aspirations as a 50-over player.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan!
The left-hander is in the midst of an extended rut, but despite his string of low scores the team management decides to stick with him as they know the potential of the man.
However, another below par performance in the series could well cut this rope short for the southpaw.
After having a mediocre 2016, all the pressure was on the Delhi man to make his presence felt, but he could muster only 12 runs in the 2 innings and did not look a confident man. As a result, he was dropped in the final ODI, which in many ways could be a strong signal for the left-hander.
#1 KL Rahul
The young flamboyant man from Karnataka was the find for India in the previous season, when he became only the 3rd Indian to score a century across all three formats. His game saw tremendous improvement and hence even better things were expected of him in this series.
However, Rahul only flattered to deceive and after playing few sparkling strokes threw his wicket away in all the three matches.
There is a lot of natural talent in Rahul, and now he needs to work on his temperament as this would hold him in good stead in the coming future in all the three format.
He seems to have the backing of the selectors and the Team management, and this should give him a lot of confidence going forward.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
