5 important problems that the Indian team must address right now

Though Pakistan inflicted a heavy defeat on India in the ICC Champions Trophy final, it has to be conceded that India had a great tournament and suffered just one bad day in the final.

The defeat in the final and the times they have struggled in the tournament have however exposed some major weaknesses that the Indian team has at the moment. It is absolutely necessary that India looks into these problems and tries to solve these issues as quickly as possible.

Here are 5 important problems that the Indian team must address right now.

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#5 Poor fielding

Ever since the emergence of promising youngsters after 2000, the Indian team got rid of its tag of being poor and laborious when it came to fielding. Most remarkable among them were Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif back then, and Suresh Raina after that.

India since then has developed into a great fielding unit that is as good as any team on its day. Quite strangely, however, they were extremely poor in the field during most part of the Champions Trophy this year.

Except for the occasional brilliance from Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli, the Indian team were mostly flat as they missed crucial catches or run-out chances at important junctures. The likes of Kedar Jadhav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and even Yuvraj Singh were insipid and too laid back in the field.

For the first time in many years, the Indian team does not look a great fielding unit and that is a key problem that needs to be addressed soon.

#4 Inconsistent middle order

Dhoni had a mixed tournament

Going into the tournament, there were big concerns about India’s batting form because of the questions over the form of the Indian openers and the middle order. All questions over the Indian opening combination and the form of the Indian captain Virat Kohli have been put to rest because of their superlative form during the tournament.

However, the brilliant performances of the top three have glossed over the ordinary performances of India’s middle order. In all fairness, the middle order remained unrequired for most of the tournament but that does not banish the question marks hanging over their heads.

Everyone must have been expecting a bit more from Kedar Jadhav, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. On the big day of the final, when the top order was blown away because of that brilliant spell from Mohammad Amir, no one in the lower middle order except Hardik Pandya could put up a semblance of resistance.

Also considering the ages of Yuvraj and Dhoni two years from now, question marks remain over whether they are the best men to go with keeping the World Cup 2019 in mind.

#3 The indifferent form of Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin’s form on flat decks has been abysmal of late

One of the reasons for India’s tremendous consistency in Test cricket during the just completed home season was the consistency of Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. They are match-winners on whom India have come to depend across all formats of the game.

But while Kohli is continuing to do the good work, the same can hardly be said about Ashwin when it comes to limited overs cricket. Ashwin, who had not played much of ODI cricket for a year leading up to the Champions Trophy, was dropped in the initial stages of the tournament.

Even when he was brought back into the side to lend some variety to the bowling attack, Ashwin flattered to deceive.

The off-spinner is not his usual aggressive self when it comes to white ball cricket these days and banks on bowling a defensive line to contain batsmen. He is no longer the go-to wicket-taker during the middle overs and has been also leaking a lot of runs.

Ashwin’s form on flat decks has been abysmal of late as he conceded 70 runs against Pakistan in the final – the only spinner to do so in the Champions Trophy this year.

Against Bangladesh, he leaked runs at an alarming rate as well and his ineffectiveness in the middle overs made the game almost slip away from India until they were resurrected by two wickets from Kedar Jadhav. With the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal waiting in the wings, Ashwin will have to start performing now if he wants to a permanent member of the limited overs side.

#2 Conceding too many extras

India conceded 25 extras against Pakistan at the Oval

Though India chose to go in with two acclaimed seamers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for most of the matches in the tournament, they did not quite give India the consistency that was desired from them.

In the all-important final, it was déjà vu for India as they lost their way conceding wides and no-balls, reminding fans of how Zaheer Khan had lost his way against Australia in the 2003 World Cup final.

India conceded 25 extras against Pakistan at the Oval, including the crucial no-ball off which Fakhar Zaman had been dismissed earlier in the innings. Going forward, India will have to find a way to cut down on the extras in the big stage.

Though many would be forgiven for thinking that the final was an odd occasion when India gave away too many extras, the statistics that might have quietly slipped under the radar is that India were just as poor in the preceding matches.

Against Bangladesh, they conceded 23 extras, and 16 runs were conceded against South Africa even when the Proteas had managed a low total of 191.

#1 The fifth bowler conundrum

The problem with Pandya is that he does not have enough variety in his repertoire

All through the tournament, India were faced with the problem of an inconsistent fifth bowling option which made life difficult for them. The presence of Hardik Pandya in the side allowed them to go in with two other genuine pacers and two specialist spinners after Umesh Yadav was dropped from the side.

While Pandya was brilliant with the ball in patches, including the final, there were others times when he was too inconsistent and Kohli had to use Kedar Jadhav to complete the quota of the fifth bowler between them.

Pandya has good pace to work with and is not shy of bowling short to surprise the batsmen. But that also becomes a bane for him at times as he disappears fast on flat decks. The problem with him is that he does not have enough variety in his repertoire which is essential for any fast bowler bowling in the middle overs.

As long as he does not have variations like a perfect yorker, a good slow ball or even a deceptive slow bouncer, delivering fast at a good length makes him vulnerable to being taken for runs on good batting wickets.

While Jadhav has been brilliant at times, the combination of Jadhav and Pandya as the fifth bowling option remains hardly feasible on flat decks in the subcontinent. There remains an option to go in with five genuine bowlers which will, however, weaken the batting which the Indian team does not seem to want to do at the moment.

Yuvraj Singh also remains an option to be utilised as the fifth bowler but he did not bowl at all in the tournament which means India want to play him only as a specialist batsman these days. The other option would be to groom another spin-bowling all-rounder who might be useful.

Whichever is the case, the Indian team management would have to wrack their brains to solve their fifth bowler problem.