India vs WI, 3rd ODI: Loads of problems and plenty of lessons to learn for India

The one-day series against the West Indies, which was supposed to be a practice match for Team India, has turned into a nightmare. India lost to the West Indies by 48 runs in the 3rd one-day match at Pune. Now the five-match one-day series is locked at 1-1 with the second match ending in a tie.

Before the one-day series started, there was only talk about how India should experiment with their playing XI against this depleted West Indies side. Doubts were raised about the capability of the West Indies bowling attack to go past India’s top 3 so that the middle-order would get the much-needed practice in the middle.

But for Virat Kohli’s stupendous efforts, West Indies would have been leading the series 3-0. It was the same West Indies team which failed to qualify automatically for the World Cup and forced to play the World Cup qualifiers.

Shai Hope has given a lot of hope for the Windies in this series

This West Indies team is without players of the calibre of Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Andrew Russel, Sunil Narine, and Samuel Badree. A strong playing XI can be fielded with these missed out players.

India, playing on home, are struggling against a team without these great players. To add to that, India have been lucky with the toss on all 3 occasions but still failed to press home the advantage.

The only positive for India in the series has been the form of captain Kohli who continues to break one record after another. On Saturday, Kohli duly completed his 38th ODI century and became the first Indian to score three consecutive centuries in ODIs. In the fourth ODI, Kohli would strive to equal the record of Kumar Sangakkara for the maximum number of consecutive hundreds in ODIs.

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Problems, lessons to learn and solutions for the problems

1. Wrong team composition

India decided to drop Jadeja from the team which weakened the batting considerably and still decided to chase. There was nothing left for India in terms of batting after M.S. Dhoni, who himself has not been in the best of forms.

The Indians should learn that their batting is already weak except for the top 3. In such a situation, it would not be prudent to further weaken their batting on the pretext of strengthening their bowling.

2. Failing to control Hetmyer

Hetmyer is uncontrollable in this series

Just like the other two ODIs, India were very much in control by taking the first 3 West Indies wickets for next to nothing. But they once again allowed Hetmyer to dominate the spinners.

Kohi failed to attack Hetmyer with the fast bowlers the moment he arrived at the crease. On the other hand, Kohli replaced Khaleel, who was bowling so well at that time and brought back both the wrist-spinners from either end. It was easy meat for Hetmyer as he continued his merry ways against the spinners hitting them for 2 fours and 3 sixes. In fact, it was Hetmyer’s innings which once again tilted the momentum in West Indies favour.

Hetmyer’s defence techniques are tentative. He looks like the player who can motor along on top gear only. In the fourth ODI, Kohli should attack Hetmyer with Bumrah from the moment he arrives at the crease. Hetmyer should not be fed on the spin for the first 5 overs.

3. Allowing the late order and tail to wag

Nurse's all-round performance was the difference between the two teams

At one stage, the West Indies were 121 for 5 before Holder and Shai Hope put on 76 runs for the sixth wicket. Again, when the Windies were on 227 for 8, Nurse and Roach added 56 runs for the 9th wicket which was the turning point of the match. Nurse ended up scoring 40 ff 22 balls.

India have the perennial problem of always allowing the tailenders to make significant contributions. While the Indian tail contributes nothing with the bat, they merrily allow the opposition tail to flourish. This was witnessed right through the Test series in England.

Even in the first ODI against Windies, Roach and Bishoo added 44 runs for the 9th wicket. In the end, their contribution became insignificant due to the massive efforts of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. But there were enough alarm signs in the first ODI itself that this West Indies tail could bat, which were simply ignored by India.

The opposition tail wagging in any one of the matches is acceptable. But allowing the tail to wag in every match is a dangerous sign.

One way of tackling this problem is to finish off the overs of the spinners by the end of the 40th over. This would help the spinners to complete their quota of overs when in rhythm. Whatever extra wickets they take in the middle overs, would put additional pressure on the opposition.

Keeping a couple of overs of Chahal in reserve for the late order will backfire. Desperate heaves by the well-built bowlers against the spinners would fetch crucial runs for the opposition and would change the momentum of the game.

4. Shikhar Dhawan’s perennial problem against off-spinners

Dhawan a walking wicket against off-spinners

In the chase, India lost Rohit Sharma to a beauty from Jason Holder. Dhawan was timing the ball beautifully against the fast bowlers. But the moment off-spinner Ashley Nurse was introduced into the attack, it was a different ball game for Shikhar as he started losing his patience and concentration.

When Dhawan failed to put bat on ball against the off-spinner, he took the desperate route of trying to sweep Nurse blindly which caught him plumb in front.

In the Asia Cup, except for Afghanistan, the other teams did not have quality off-spinners to test Dhawan. Pakistan used to exploit Dhawan’s weakness against off-spin by opening the bowling with Mohammad Hafeez.

Here in the first two ODIs, Dhawan did not last long enough to face the spinners in the middle. Perhaps a change in strategy for the West Indies to open the bowling with Nurse in the next ODI might fetch immediate success.

On Dhawan’s part, he should show patience against the spinners and should try to rotate the strike in the initial stages and should restrain himself from going for the sweep.

5. Failure to dominate the West Indies spinners

Samuels the bowler made a telling blow to India's fortunes by removing Kohli

The Indian batsmen simply failed to dominate the West Indies spinners and allowed them to settle into a nice rhythm to bowl at them. The three spinners bowled a total of 23.4 overs and took 5 wickets among them giving away just 107 runs. Nurse took the wickets of left-handers Dhawan and Pant.

Marlon Samuels, who had a quiet series thus far, made a significant contribution to the outcome of the match by taking the all-important wicket of Kohli.

The Indian batsmen, who are reputed to be the best against spinners, always struggle against quality spin. In England, they didn’t have any clue against Moeen Ali. In the Asia cup too, they struggled against the spinners of Afghanistan.

Though Samuels and Nurse are not in the same league, they succeeded in tying down the Indian batsmen which resulted in wickets.

The Indian batsmen should never allow the Windies spinners to settle down. They should try to upset the rhythm of the spinners in going after them from the beginning. They should use their feet to come down the pitch to play attacking shots against the spinners. The sweep shot is another better option.

6. The woeful form of Dhoni and the middle-order muddle

Dhoni and Pant - Two problems with a single solution

Dhoni once again failed with the bat. It is becoming more and more difficult for Dhoni and for the team day by day. It remains to be seen whether Rishabh Pant’s hit out or get out kind of approach to batting would fetch the desired results, especially in run chases.

While Dhoni would be finding it difficult to hold on to his place purely based on his wicket-keeping skills, it would be even more difficult for Pant to merit a place in the team purely on his batting abilities. A solution lies somewhere in the middle. Sleepless nights ahead of the Indian selectors.

Rayadu is yet to prove himself as a match-winner. He should look to bat through the innings to take his team home. It is time for Rayadu to come out of the comforts of playing the supporting cast to the top 3 and become a match-winner on his own. The absence of Jadeja further complicated the problem in the last match.

The continuous failure of the Indian middle-order has put enormous pressure on Virat Kohli to finish off matches all on his own. The pressure is too much to handle even for King Kohli.

The only solution to Indian middle-order woes is to try and keep on changing personnel. The available resources will have to be fully exploited in an attempt to stumble upon the right combination. Some harsh decisions on the way to achieve that objective are inevitable.

7. The absence of the sixth bowler

India sorely missed Kedar Jadhav the bowler

India went into the match with 4 batsmen, 2 keepers, and 5 specialist bowlers. With this combination, there was no cover either in batting or bowling in case of any contingency. This imbalance in team composition was thoroughly exposed in this match.

When the West Indies were going all guns blazing, there was no sixth bowler for Kohli to fall back on. Again in the chase, there was nothing left in the batting beyond Ambati Rayadu to support Kohli.

The return of Kedar Jadhav and Jadeja to the team for the fourth ODI should be the solution to this problem. With their return, the team would look more balanced both in batting and bowling.

8. Possible changes ahead of the fourth one-day

Jadeja should come back into the team in place of Chahal

Going into the fourth one-day, the Indians should make two changes in the playing XI. Kedar Jadhav, if fit, should replace Rishabh Pant and Jadeja should come in place of Chahal. Chahal’s bowling has been a steady decline and his fielding has been average, to say the least.

Failures are hard to swallow but they are the great indicators of the omnipresent inherent weaknesses. One can learn a lot in failures than in success if one has the initiative to learn. It remains to be seen whether this Indian team can learn from their mistakes.