After a thrilling conclusion to the IPL, the Indian bandwagon now moves to England as focus shifts to the ICC Champions Trophy where India will defend their title. When the Indian squad was finally announced, the selectors did not provide the eagerly waiting fans with any surprises by choosing a tried and tested squad.
India find themselves in a group of death with Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. While the opening clash against arch-rivals Pakistan will be fuelled by emotions, there will be no easy games against South Africa and Sri Lanka either. The pressure will be on the Indian batsmen, as for the first time in many years, India might be going into an ICC tournament with its bowlers in better form than the batsmen.
So, here is a snapshot of the performance of every member of India’s squad.
Opening batsmen
The opening partnerships between Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were largely responsible for India winning most of the matches in the previous Champions Trophy. The duo had two century and 50+ partnerships each in 5 matches with the final reduced to a 20-20 affair due to rain. So it is imperative that these two lay a solid foundation with good opening partnerships.
Shikhar Dhawan
With KL Rahul injured, it was easy for the selectors to pick Shikhar Dhawan. However, the Delhi left-hander has played only two ODIs in the last 12 months. He got injured in the Kolkata Test against New Zealand and then missed the following ODI series. He only featured in two ODIs against England this year and was dropped in the third ODI.
Dhawan entered the previous Champions Trophy in 2013 with the same indifferent form, but then played like a man possessed in the tournament notching up 2 hundreds and a fifty in 5 innings at an average of 90.75. He has generally played well in England.
The southpaw was prolific in the recently concluded IPL ending up as the third highest run-getter of the tournament with three 50s.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
9 | 518 | 74.0 | 98.10 | 2 | 2 |
Rohit Sharma
Sharma has played 5 ODIs in the last 12 months, the last being against New Zealand in November 2016. He struggled in that series with a paltry average of 24.60 and only one score above 50 before getting injured in the last ODI of that series.
He made his comeback in the IPL this year but failed to get going ending up with 333 runs at a lowly average of 23.78. Even though out of form, the Mumbai batsman, nicknamed ‘hitman’, looks set to play in all matches.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
7 | 229 | 38.16 | 71.33 | 3 | 0 |
Ajinkya Rahane
Rahane is unlikely to get a look in unless there is a spectacular slump in Dhawan’s form. He has played in 6 ODI matches in last 12 months but has not really set the stage on fire. He has mustered 144 runs at an average of 24 and a strike rate of 69.23.
Rahane had a decent IPL scoring 382 runs at a strike rate of 118 in 16 matches. Unfortunately, it will not be enough to get selected for the final playing XI.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
9 | 350 | 38.88 | 87.50 | 1 | 1 |
The Middle Order
The middle order yet again looks largely dependent on out of form Virat Kohli. If India are to have any chances of getting out of a tough group and eventually defending their title, everyone in the middle order will need to perform their specific role. While it will be up to Kohli and Dhoni to build up the innings in the middle stages, the lower order will need to come out blazing whenever required.
Virat Kohli
The new ODI captain has played 8 matches in last 12 months and he was in scintillating form scoring 543 runs at an average of 90.50 with two hundreds and three 50s. Since then, he has had a lean patch. A shoulder injury was followed by a miserable IPL with the bat and as captain of RCB as his side managed to win just 3 games.
There is a lot of talk about Kohli’s travails with the bat in England, and it’s been nearly three years since he has last played in an ODI in England, so a lot of eyes are on him to see how he performs this time. Whatever the situation might be, India needs its captain to fire regardless of how the opening batsmen play.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
14 | 424 | 38.54 | 86.53 | 2 | 1 |
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj made a comeback after a productive domestic season and cracked a magnificent 150 against England in January. That innings gave hint that he might be back to his old self. The Punjab dasher had a quiet IPL after that with just 252 runs in 12 games at an average of 28.
Even though it seems that Yuvraj has done enough to get a look in, he has come to that stage of career where he will be on trial for every innings he plays and will need to perform consistently in order to keep his place in the playing XI.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
19 | 583 | 34.29 | 85.48 | 4 | 0 |
MS Dhoni
Dhoni has played in 11 ODIs in last 12 months (including 3 against Zimbabwe where he did not bat in all 3). He has been in reasonably good form scoring at an average of 44.62 with a century and a fifty, but crucially at a lesser strike rate of 82. During the IPL, he scored 290 runs at an average of 26.36 and strike rate of 116 – a bit ungainly performance by his standards.
With his role changing from a blaster to an accumulator, it would make sense if Dhoni bats ahead of Yuvraj at number 4 while the rest of the batting order revolves around him. He can still tonk a few in the end as we have seen from his recent IPL knocks.
With Yuvraj, Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav and even Jadeja in the lower middle order, there are quite a few big hitters in this ODI team. Hence Dhoni at number 4 will give the middle order a stability in case of a collapse and a set Dhoni in the last 5 overs is still the most dangerous batsman.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
21 | 519 | 37.07 | 85.64 | 5 | 0 |
Kedar Jadhav
Jadhav has also featured in 11 ODIs in the last 12 months but the recent series against England will surely be his career defining moment. He scored at an average of 77 and at an astounding strike rate of 144 in the 3-match ODI series. His form fizzled out in the IPL as with most of other RCB players. He still managed to maintain a strike rate of 143 in the 13 matches he played.
He should ideally come in at number 6. He might miss out if the think tank decides to play with 3 seamers and two spinners, excluding Pandya. This will be his first ODI tour to England.
Hardik Pandya
Pandya made his ODI debut in the series against New Zealand in October 2016. Since then he has played in 7 matches, scored at an average of 53.33 with a strike rate of almost 120. He has complimented it by taking 9 wickets at a decent average of 32.8 with an economy rate of 5.8, which is tolerable in the modern day game for an all-rounder.
He is also a very good fielder and has a safe pair of hands to take most of the catches that come his way. He looks certain to play in all matches either at number 6 or 7.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik is in the squad because of an injury to Manish Pandey. Karthik comes into the squad on the back of a strong showing in the domestic competitions. Although he last played for India in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan in 2014, he did play the previous Champions Trophy and did a reasonably good job.
He had pretty good IPL with 361 in 14 matches with a strike rate of almost 140. It is unlikely that he’ll get a look in and so will be on the bench most of the time.
Record in England
Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
12 | 134 | 22.33 | 74.03 | 1 | 0 |
Bowlers – Spinners and Seamers
All the bowlers have been in some form for India coming into this tournament which is a welcome sight. Jadeja and Ashwin have been very good in restricting the batsmen and with Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s swing coupled with Shami’s pace and Bumrah’s accuracy, the Indian bowling attack looks more potent than ever.
Ravindra Jadeja
The ODI series against England is the only series Jadeja has been part of in the last 12 months. In the 3 matches, he did not do much with the bat, probably because he was not required to. He took 4 wickets at an average of 39 and with an economy of 5.23. He should play in all the matches.
Record in England
Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy Rate | 5w |
12 | 23 | 20.86 | 4.80 | 1 |
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin goes into yet another foreign tour trying to prove that he is as effective as in India. His performance in the last last 3 ODIs against England was below par where he took only three wickets and went for almost 7 runs an over.
Record in England
Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy Rate | 5w |
14 | 21 | 24.0 | 4.67 | 0 |
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar has been in and out of the Indian ODI team for quite some time now. He had a tremendous IPL season winning the purple cap with 26 wickets from 14 matches at 7 runs per over. He has only played 2 ODIs for India in last 12 months managing to take a wicket.
His record in England, as he figures below suggest, is very impressive and he should be a certainty in opening the bowling attack for India.
Record in England
Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy Rate | 5w |
9 | 11 | 24.63 | 4.10 | 0 |
Mohammed Shami
Shami’s international career has been dogged by injuries. The Uttar Pradesh pacer last played a competitive ODI against Australia in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup. He was selected in the World T20 squad in 2016, but could not break into playing eleven having been out of international cricket for more than a year.
Shami has played in 10 Tests in last 12 months picking up 29 wickets – 18 of which came on the unresponsive tracks in India. Everyone thought he would play a full IPL season, but eventually ended up playing in 8 matches for his Delhi franchise and took 5 wickets.
If he doesn’t break down he should get a chance in the playing eleven. With Umesh Yadav in excellent form, it will be a toss-up between the two. So if Shami gets a chance, he needs to perform well.
Record in England
Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy Rate | 5w |
4 | 8 | 19.00 | 4.67 | 0 |
Umesh Yadav
Umesh was the unsung hero of India’s mammoth Test season. His bowling in all the 12 of the 13 Tests he played in was an absolute revelation. Having said that, he is always guilty of leaking runs and being wayward in the ODIs.
The 29-year-old from Nagpur has played in 6 ODIs in the last 12 months, taking 9 wickets at an average of 33.22 with a slightly high economy rate of 6.22. His performance in the IPL was a bit better as he picked up taking 17 wickets in 14 matches at 8.45 runs per over.
In all probability, Shami will get the nod over Umesh if fit.
Record in England
Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy Rate | 5w |
6 | 5 | 48.80 | 5.85 | 0 |
Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah has been the biggest rising star of Indian bowling. Being tutored by Malinga at Mumbai Indians, the death-overs specialist outshone his guru in the recently concluded IPL season.
The Gujarat speedster has been part of 10 ODIs in the last 12 months. He has taken 20 wickets at an excellent average of 21.85 and with a frugal economy rate of 4.9. He was terrific in the IPL with his slow yorkers and bowling at death in general.
He finished the season pocketing 20 wickets - overall third in the list of highest wicket-takers. Needless to say, he will be the lynchpin of Indian bowling attack.
Author’s Playing XI
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
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