ICC World Cup 2019: 3 unanswered questions for India as they head into the tournament

After a display of quality and class which led to them outclassing Australia in all formats on their home soil, Australia returned the favor in their limited overs tour to India. They won the T20I series 2-0 and after being 0-2 down in the ODI series, they came back thunderously to win the series 3-2.

Australia became the fifth team to come back from a 0-2 margin to win a five-match ODI series. It was a complete team performance with the likes of Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Adam Zampa, and Pat Cummins being the most impressive.

India had their moments of individual brilliance with Shikhar Dhawan’s 143 at Mohali, Virat Kohli getting to his 41st ODI century and Rohit Sharma surpassing 8000 ODI runs. But there were many missed opportunities from the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Vijay Shankar.

India were looking to experiment a lot in their endeavour to find the right balance ahead of the World Cup. So the combinations were tweaked a lot, especially with the bowlers, which necessarily didn’t work out. For example, Bhuvneshwar Kumar played after a long time and looked rusty and out of form.

India wanted to find answers to some problems that have been haunting them in recent times, but there seems to be no end to them, going by their 2-3 series defeat to Australia. The visitors undoubtedly were much better than India but India also played a part in the series defeat.

Here is an analysis of what questions remain unanswered for India as they head into the ICC World Cup 2019.

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#1 India haven’t been able to nail down who would be their No. 4 batsman

India v Australia - ODI Series: Game 5

This has been India’s biggest problem for quite some time now. It has not hampered their success as an ODI team in recent times. They were dominant in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia - something not too many Indian teams have managed to achieve over the years.

The perfect balancing act is something that’s missing in the batting lineup. India are still far too dependent on their top three batsmen, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli. Only the ever dependable Kohli shone with the bat in the recent ODI series, affecting the team’s performance.

Keeping their theme of experimentation going, India tried Vijay Shankar, Ambati Rayudu and KL Rahul and there’s no clear clarity as who will travel to England and Wales for the World Cup.

Going by his recent performances in New Zealand and his fantastic over under pressure in Nagpur to give India a win, Shankar seems to have nailed that spot. He couldn’t deliver a series defining performance against the Aussies, but Rayudu and Rahul were way too inconsistent.

Keeping the conditions which would be on offer at the World Cup, Shankar most likely will be the No. 4 batsman who can give Virat Kohli 5-6 reasonably quiet overs. But with Hardik Pandya set to return for the World Cup, would India want a specialist batsman instead for the coveted No. 4 spot?

So this question still remains unanswered. Out of the three batsmen given an opportunity in the recently concluded ODI series, Shankar should ideally make it to the World Cup squad but one never knows what the selectors would opt for.

#2 Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik - who is the ideal backup wicket-keeper?

Rishabh Pant failed to grab the opportunities he received

Rishabh Pant was preferred over the experienced Dinesh Karthik for the home ODIs against the Aussies. And sadly, neither did the youngster establish himself as a wicket-keeper or as a batsman in the two opportunities he got.

It is very unfortunate that one has to comment on or analyze Pant's performance in this series considering he just got two opportunities. But such is the competition for spots to make to India’s World Cup squad. Pant had to be at his flamboyant best in the chances he gets.

He couldn’t capitalize on the chances he got, his wicket-keeping was far from ideal. His missed stumping of Ashton Turner proved to be the difference between the two sides in Mohali. He was far from perfect in the last ODI at Delhi too.

His batting was too sloppy to mark his name for the World Cup squad, especially over someone like Karthik. He had the perfect platform laid out - series leveled at 2-2, India chasing down a challenging total of 273. All he had to do was build a partnership of substance with Vijay Shankar and Kedhar Jadhav and that could have pushed India towards a series win. But a rush of blood got to him and he threw away a golden opportunity to be selected as the backup wicket-keeper option.

With his experience coupled with his finishing abilities, despite being left out of India’s last ODI assignment ahead of the World Cup, Karthik should get the nod ahead of Pant. But there are speculations going around that DK probably is out of the reckoning.

One must wait and watch where the selectors go. Probably the wicket-keeper with a more defining IPL 2019 might make it to the World Cup as a backup option for MS Dhoni.

#3 Is Virat Kohli the completely ready captain without the services of MS Dhoni?

Is Virat Kohli completely ready?

It’s not a new sight to see MS Dhoni set the fields and control proceedings especially once the spinners are operating in tandem. Virat Kohli takes a back seat and allows the experience of MSD to take over.

Although that strategy seems to be working and would most likely continue to do so in the World Cup, the question that remains unanswered is if Kohli is ready as a captain without Dhoni?

This was evident in the last two ODIs when one got a feeling that Kohli let the game get away from India. He was seen at the boundary and not coming up to the bowlers to offer guidance and support when things were going against them. He usually leaves it up to Dhoni and it works out, especially with the words of wisdom he provides to the spinners like Kuldeep Yadav and Kedar Jadhav.

Kohli’s aggression and brand of captaincy is no doubt here to stay and he has achieved the deserved results so far. But without a Dhoni to support and guide him, is he ready to marshal the troops independently?

India would hope that Kohli becomes more proactive and with Dhoni, devise and implement strategies together on and off the field during the World Cup. As without doubts, India are favourites to win the World Cup and they wouldn’t this aspect of Kohli’s captaincy to hamper their chances.