Problems that the Indian team have to address in the Asia cup

With the World cup in less than a year, the teams are trying to find their best possible combinations going into the world cup. Indian team is one of the clear favourites to lift the world cup in England and in order to do so, they have to fix some important issues.

The recently concluded India’s tour of England saw India lose to England by 2-1 in the ODI series. This is mainly due to India’s middle order woes.

#1 The Middle Order woes:

In the past 12 months, the top order of the Indian team has scored the bulk of the runs for India. What happens if the top order gets dismissed cheaply was everyone’s question?

They got their answers from the recently concluded India’s tour of England. In the last two ODI’s in which India lost the top three were dismissed cheaply and the middle didn’t have much say in those games either.

In the first that India won, the top three scored 252 runs and India won it by 8 wickets, whereas in the second ODI India lost three wickets in eleven over’s and ended up losing the game by 86 runs. In the third ODI, the Indians were set to post a big total but lost two quick wickets of Karthik and Kohli in less than five over’s. With 20 over’s left the middle order managed to score just 100 runs and eventually lost the game by 8 wickets.

If the top three fails then the Indian middle order tumbles and fails to score. This is the problem that the Indian side is facing recently.

#2 How will the Indian side counter this in the Asia Cup 2018?

England v India:

The inclusion of Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, and Manish Pandey in the squad can solve this middle order woe. Rayudu, who missed the England tour as he failed the yo-yo test will be keen to make an impact in this Asia cup. He had a terrific IPL scoring runs as an opener and as a middle-order player and earned an international call-up for the England tour but unfortunately for him, he failed the yo-yo test and was taken out of the squad

However, Rayudu cleared the test recently and played for India A in the recently concluded quadrangular series and was also picked for the Asia Cup. He scored 187 runs in the quadrangular series at an average of 47. He is good with the new ball and he is brilliant against the spinners. He can nudge singles and can keep the scorecard ticking and can play the big shots too if needed. Rayudu for me will be the right pick for the number four position.

Australia 'A' v India 'A' - Quadrangular Series Final

Kedar Jadhav is a handy batsman who can hit the big shots from the first ball of his innings. He can also hold the team together if in the case early wickets fall. He missed three to four months due to the hamstring injury that he suffered in the inaugural game of the IPL 2018.

Jadhav played for the India A and proved that he is fit to be in the National side for the Asia Cup. He will definitely be my number six.

South Africa v India - T20 International

Manish Pandey will be my back up for either Jadhav or Rayudu. He was dropped for India’s tour to England due to his poor performance in the last 6 months. However, he led India B to victory in the quadrangular series and scored a massive 306 runs in that series and impressed the selectors.

#3 The fitness of the Indian Pacers:

India v South Africa - ICC Champions Trophy

India’s spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar suffered injuries in recent times. Bumrah missed the entire limited over’s and the first two test matches against England whereas Bhuvi missed the first two ODI games and the entire test series and didn’t look 100 per cent at all and this reflected in his performance.

Bhuvi bowled 7 overs and gave away 49 runs in the only ODI that he played.

India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy

The fitness of these pacers is important for Indian team’s World Cup journey. If these two pacers prove that they are fit then India have a massive chance of lifting the World Cup next summer. After missing the Test series, Bhuvi played for India A in the quadrangular series and picked up 3 wickets. It will be interesting to see how he plays.

FINAL - ICC Under 19 World Cup

The addition of Khaleel Ahmed to the side provides some valuable variety to the side. Not to be forgotten the fact that in the last two world cups the highest wicket-takers were left-hand fast bowlers (Zaheer Khan and Starc). This youngster can bowl at 140+ Kmph. He impressed one and all in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy where he picked up 17 wickets at an average of 19. Overall, he has picked up 28 wickets in 17 games in his List-A career at an average of 22.5 and has an economy under five in his list-A career.

He should be the third seamer in English conditions if they decide to go with three seamers.

#4 Part-time bowlers:

Bangladesh v India - ICC Champions Trophy

India lacked a part-time bowler in the recently concluded series against England. Even though Suresh Raina bowled a bit he was not that effective. In the 2011 World Cup that India won, MS Dhoni gave Yuvraj Singh 10 overs every game, which gave India the most important cushion in the bowling department.

The inclusion of Jadhav will provide India with an extra bowler who can chip in with some important overs. Jadhav, with his low arm release and with his pace, can surprise batsmen. Due to his low arm release, he generates less bounce.

The possible playing eleven for the world cup:

Rohit Sharma, Dhawan/ K L Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah