The Indian squad for the 2017 Champions Trophy was finally selected on Monday and contrary to many who hoped for one or more left-field selections, it was a fairly conventional squad opted by the selection panel for the event, starting from the 1st of June.
This will be a significant event for Indian cricket as it will be the first time in 10 years that MS Dhoni will not lead India at a major event and Virat kohli who took over the reigns in all three formats will captain India in the defense of the crown they won in 2013.
Here’s a SWOT Analysis of the squad:
Strengths
Like is the case with most Indian squads picked for any competition, it is the batting which is always the most powerful trait and it is no different here as well. In Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, India have an experienced core, suited to get tall scores or even chase them down.
Interestingly, four of the five above mentioned players also featured in the competition last time around, that was so dominated by Dhawan and Rohit, who laid an excellent foundation for the rest.
This time around, however, the impetus will be on Kohli and to an extent on Yuvraj as well, who will be playing his first major 50-over ICC event since the 2011 World Cup. In Dhoni, the team has a calm head, who understands 50-over cricket better than most.
The reason for these having to shoulder much of the responsibility is that Rohit will be returning after a long lay-off from the international game , although the IPL would have given him sufficient time in the middle and Dhawan too for India has not been setting the field ablaze and hence at least in the initial stages, one doesn’t know how they would get off the blocks.
Weaknesses
India's weak link in this squad seems like the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The duo have played very little limited-overs cricket for India in the past year-and-half and more, part of the reason being that the side were involved in a hectic Test season, with 17 Tests being played in 6 months time.
The other area where the team could face an issue is with regards to the fitness of Mohammed Shami, who like Rohit has not played for India in any format, since November 2016.
His last ODI for India was the 2015 World Cup semifinal and it will be interesting to see if picked, how he does fare with the white ball in hand.
Opportunities
The competition serves as an opportunity for the likes of Rohit and Dhawan at the top to get back in the groove.
Rohit, as mentioned in the opening slide, has not played for India for a long time(his last game for India came in October 2016), but that should not take away the fact as to how good he has been in the limited-overs format for India in the last 3-4 years.
Hundreds against Australia in Australia, hundreds in India have meant that he has provided the side with the runs they require from him at the top. He now has a chance to repeat those exploits at the Champions Trophy.
Dhawan, often criticised for his inconsistent showing with the bat, will look to prove his detractors wrong at an event, where he was awarded the Man of the tournament award last time around.
In fact, a look at his performances in major 50-over events shows that he has usually delivered and he will hope to that again in England.
Another man for whom this event will serve as a good opportunity is Kedar Jadhav. Picked on the back of a good showing in the series against England, the Pune cricketer will hope to do justice to his selection in conditions much different to what he will find at home.
Threats
For India, the threat will be posed by the fast bowling in the opposition. Grouped with Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan, The Men In Blue are likely to face quality bowling in two of the three matches, which would test their technique.
In such a situation, it becomes vital for both Dhawan and Rohit to get the side off to a careful yet important start with the bat, lay the foundation for the rest to follow. In the last edition of the Champions Trophy, we saw that bowlers did not get too much help at the start of the innings, allowing this duo to play with a great sense of freedom.
If we see something similar this time around, then both openers, who have a penchant for boundaries, would have little trouble, countering the new ball. The other thing that could have India in trouble is if the death bowling goes wrong, then the batsmen could really have them for meat-and-drink.
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