Can do with a Chinaman in the absence of R Ashwin

By Chetan Narula
India surrendered the first ODI to West Indies in Kochi by 124 runs and the batting failure looms big at first sight. In truth it was a disjointed performance by a line-up that has hardly had any breathing space this calendar year. Such is the schedule of Indian cricketers nowadays though that they have to suck it in and just move on.

On paper, the Indian team is stronger than this touring Caribbean side, and over the course of this five-match series, should be able to come out on top.

However the score-line does read 1-0 and thus the question arises whether the team think-tank lost a wonderful opportunity to blood youngster Kuldeep Yadav.

The 19-year-old chinaman as well as seasoned leg-spinner Amit Mishra were inducted into the squad for the first three ODIs even as off-spinner R Ashwin was rested. It was a move in keeping with what the selectors had done for the ODIs in England, wherein they had picked leg-spinner Karn Sharma. With Ashwin partnering Ravindra Jadeja in the playing eleven as skipper MS Dhoni opted for a threepronged pace attack, Sharma didn’t get his chance until the solitary T20I at Birmingham.

Obviously then, it made for some wonderment if Yadav would also get his debut straightaway. The thing about this Indian think-tank is that they have a very pragmatic short-term vision. They could have opted for three spinners at Kochi, especially with Ashwin missing, but instead chose to go in with three medium-pacers again.

“We had that option, but with Ashwin rested, we would still like to go in with three fast bowlers and hence Mishra and Jadeja are our two spinners,” said Dhoni after winning the toss and opting to field first on Wednesday.

One school of thought here can be that India are trying to be consistent with their bowling attack, picking a three-two pace-spin combination irrespective of conditions, as the team builds up to the 2015 ODI World Cup.

If the selectors sit down today to pick India’s 15-man squad for their title defence, then Mishra will get the nod ahead of both Sharma and Yadav on experience alone.

However, the selection date is still some time away and it is keeping that particular tournament in mind that the selectors first inducted Sharma in England and then Yadav here into the Indian squad.

It can thus be inferred that the third spinner’s spot is still up for grabs and the selectors want to try out different options before choosing the back-up option to Ashwin and Jadeja.

There isn’t a lot of time left to make that decision though. This West Indies series is India’s penultimate ODI assignment before the World Cup in Australia-New Zealand. They do play a tri-series against Australia and England Down Under in January. But the World Cup squad October 2014 will have to be announced by then and as such that contest will be a glorified dress-rehearsal for the main event.

In effect then, the Indian thinktank had five matches to make up their mind about the likes of Yadav and Sharma, perhaps also Kings XI Punjab’s Akshar Patel whose T20 exploits have earned him high praise from all quarters. That number stands at four matches now. It is not to say that playing Mishra in the Kochi ODI was a wrong move.

“The long-term goal – defending the World Cup – is something that is very crucial for us. (But) the most important thing will be to start well in this series and look to win it, first and foremost,” Dhoni had said prior to the first ODI of the five-match series.

But the underlying point being this is a team management that likes to be comfortable with its selection policy, dour even. And now the Men in Blue now move ahead with the added baggage of bouncing back in the series.

Never mind Mishra’s poor performance (1-72 in ten overs), this selection call would have been much easier – and uneventful – in Kochi than it is going to be at Delhi.