ODI World Cup squad: Why India’s chosen 15 shouldn’t be taken lightly

The greatest surprise surrounding the announcement of India’s 15 for the 50-over World Cup, starting in Ahmedabad on October 5, was that there was no great surprise. In the past, there have been heated debates over one, sometimes two places, but there was a sense of inevitability about the chosen 15 tasked with ending India’s long wait for a global title, dating back to June 2013 and the Champions Trophy.

That the 15 almost picked itself can be seen as the culmination of a process initiated last November by Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, almost immediately after India’s elimination at the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Australia. That only tells half the story.

Influential triumvirate

For much of the intervening 10 months, many of those who figure in this 15 hardly played a game. Until he made a comeback in Ireland last month, Jasprit Bumrah hadn’t played for the country since August the previous year. Shreyas Iyer, occupying the pivotal No. 4 position, was ruled out of action between March and last Saturday, laid low like Bumrah by a back injury. And KL Rahul hasn’t played a competitive fixture since May, when he badly injured his upper thigh while playing for Lucknow Supergiants in the Indian Premier League.

Yet, not an eyebrow was raised when these three stars waltzed into contention the moment they became available. All three of them have enough volume of work behind them to not warrant instant selection. Bumrah is the unquestioned pace spearhead, easily the most potent wicket-taking option in the country. Iyer is a fascinating admixture of the orthodox and the unconventional, steeped in old-school values but having adapted his game to the growing demands of the sport. Rahul, one spot below Iyer in the batting order, is a different beast altogether in 50-over cricket when he takes on the additional responsibility of the wicketkeeper, in stark contrast to his travails against the new ball in Tests and T20s, where he has out of contention for a little while now.

Ishan Kishan’s growing consistency – he has half-centuries in his last four ODIs – and increasing maturity, as evidenced in a wonderful half-century at an unfamiliar No. 5 position against Pakistan, means if they so desire, India can field the left-hander as their stumper-bat opposition-wise. Rohit suggested in replying to a pointed question that the possibility of Rahul and Kishan playing together did exist, but that’s unlikely with the irrepressible Suryakumar Yadav too in the mix.

Intense talent hunt

It's not as if India spent the last 10 months hoping desperately that this influential triumvirate would regain fitness in time for the World Cup. That would have been naïve and unprofessional, and both skipper Rohit and head coach Dravid are anything but that. The net was cast far and wide, but not too far and not too wide as India heeded the lessons handed out before and during the T20 World Cup last year.

In the months preceding the competition, the team management tried out far too many options and eventually, spoilt for choice as they were, realised that role allocation for players could have been more structured. This time, they stuck with a reasonably compact core group, covering all bases but ensuring that players were allowed to grow into their roles, that they got a long enough run to understand what was required of them in specific situations and against specific oppositions.

Impressive 15 despite a few misses

If there is one dimension India would have liked in their squad, it’s a right-arm finger-spinner. Read, R Ashwin. All three of India’s spinners are left-armers; all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel use the ball that leaves the right-hander as their stock delivery, wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav generally turns the ball away from the left-hander. With most teams at the World Cup boasting a fair few left-handers in the top order, it would have been prudent to go with an off-spinner, but team balance and composition prevented that from happening.

Axar is an almost like-for-like back-up for Jadeja, and Kuldeep is a near-certainty for every game. A slot would have had to be created for Ashwin, whose batting is more than passable but who isn’t the swiftest on the park. If teams had the luxury of naming 16, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his panel would have gone with Ashwin unhesitatingly.

The desire to shore up the lower-order batting earned Shardul Thakur the nod ahead of Prasidh Krishna, the Karnataka quick who is also coming off back surgery like Bumrah and Iyer. India’s ODI side is an anachronism in that none of the specialist batsmen bowl and none of the specialist batters have inspired the confidence that they can be relied upon in a crisis. As such, Thakur lends greater depth to the lower order and even though he may not complete his 10 overs every match – in only seven of his 40 appearances has he bowled his full complement of overs – he is a utility player on whom the team to pull his weight a little with the ball, a little with the bat.

India may not appear intimidating and imposing on paper like they did in 2011 when Mahendra Singh Dhoni could summon so many acknowledged giants, but this 15 is not to be taken lightly. In a format where all 10 teams play each other once, it’s about consistency, a cool head, and substantial back-ups for each position. India tick all those boxes, but whether they will be able to last the course in a 46-day, 48-match marathon where one slip could be decisive remains to be seen.

All eyes on Pandya

It won’t be fanciful to say that India’s campaign could well revolve around how Hardik Pandya goes in the tournament. Elevated to the vice-captaincy in white-ball formats on a full-time basis at the start of the year in recognition both of his all-round prowess and the leadership skills he displayed while leading Gujarat Titans to the title in their first year in the IPL in 2022, Pandya has emerged not just as excellent leader but also a reliable, dependable, genuine all-rounder capable of holding his own in either discipline. His batting can be watchfully resilient in a crisis, like it was against Pakistan last Saturday; it can also be beautifully uninhibited, like in the Caribbean last month in his previous ODI knock prior to the Asia Cup. He is easily more than a fourth seamer, capable of bowling a heavy ball in excess of 140 kmph. To Rohit’s Class of ’23, he could be what Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh was in 2011. Now, what a prospect that is.