India vs WI: Rohit-Kohli’s absence was a test for others; some passed with flying colours

Much has been made of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not playing the last two matches of the One-Day International series in the Caribbean, but for once, the beleaguered team management deserves to be cut some slack.

Little would have been gained by fielding the captain and his predecessor in the three games, especially with the 50-over World Cup a little over two months away. They might have made runs or not, but that wouldn’t have affected their places in the pecking order. The West Indian outing was designed more to see what the contenders for batting slots had to offer, and how Hardik Pandya would continue his progression as a leader. On both counts, there was encouraging news.

The developments over the last week must be viewed against the backdrop of the spectacular fall from grace of West Indies, who plumbed the depth last month by failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. They have been in transition for way too long, the occasional spark of hope extinguished by a sea of miserable performances, such as the ones that bookended their first 50-over win over India in nearly four years in the second game of the series.

Also read: 3rd ODI: India thrash West Indies by 200 runs to seal series 2-1

India’s gains

The most obvious gain from an Indian standpoint, apart from the 2-1 score line, has to be the consistency of Ishan Kishan, the pocket-sized left-hander with a high-risk approach. The Jharkhandi became only the fifth Indian to score half-centuries in three consecutive ODIs, the Player of the Series award a deserved encomium that might have helped him queer the pitch regarding Rohit’s partner at the top of the tree.

Kishan is one of three in this Indian squad — alongside his captain Rohit and his good friend Shubman Gill — to have an ODI double-century in his kitty. His fiery left-handedness is an invaluable asset if he continues to be judicious in shot-selection, like he was for most part of the series. He isn’t as effective batting in the middle order, which is where much of the focus was, given how top-heavy India’s line-up has been in recent years.

Gill, meanwhile, continued to exasperate until hitting his straps in the last ODI with 85, his highest score for the country since the start of June. But he is understandably rated highly by the brains trust and has had a wonderful year, the last two months notwithstanding, and should be a shoo-in for the World Cup.

Also read: Hardik Pandya slams West Indies board over lack of basic facilities

The doors that opened

With Kohli not batting at all — he didn’t get a go in the only match he played, which India won by five wickets — the door was open for Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav, primarily, to step up and stake their claim.

Suryakumar didn’t do himself any favours with efforts of 19, 24, and 35, no more than middling; his ODI record bears little resemblance to his wonderful exploits in the 20-over game where he averages 46.52 and strikes at 175.76 runs per 100 balls faced in international cricket. The projected returns before the World Cup of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer demanded that Suryakumar grab his opportunities with both hands, but might have played himself out of contention with finality.

Samson disappointed in game two when he batted at No. 3, but on Tuesday, in the series-clinching 200-run destruction of Shai Hope’s bunch, he entertained with the flourish that IPL watchers have come to associate with him. The 28-year-old boasts an average of 55.71 and a strike-rate of 104 in 13 ODIs, both excellent numbers given where he bats. India’s selectors are yet to announce the 15 for the Asia Cup, beginning in Pakistan and Sri Lanka towards the end of the month, and Samson will consider himself distinctly unlucky if he doesn’t figure in that party.

In the clearest indication yet that he is the more fancied of the two wrist-spinners, Kuldeep Yadav played in all three matches, displaying the rhythm, control, variations, and guile that made him such a compelling force between 2017 and 2019. He found tremendous assistance in the first two encounters in Bridgetown, where he had returns of four for six (three overs) and one for 30 (eight overs).

In the last match in Tarouba, on a firmer, far better batting surface, the left-arm wrist-spinner again ran rings around the Caribbeans, finishing with two for 25 from eight excellent overs. It helped, of course, that his batting colleagues had flexed their muscles and amassed an insurmountable 351, but Kuldeep’s comfort levels with his enhanced speed through the air and the way the ball left his left hand must have thrilled him, his captain(s), and the coaching staff no end. Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep’s wristie-in-arms who watched from the sidelines, must have entertained mixed feelings.

Also read: No big draw, ODI showdown with West Indies critical for Team India’s World Cup selection

A fairytale fortnight

The other bowler to leave a lasting impression was Mukesh Kumar. It’s been a fairytale fortnight for the 29-year-old Bihar-born Bengal paceman. Just a couple of months back, he might have wondered if the sands of time had passed him by — how many 29-year-old pacers have debuted in Tests for their country? But, rewarded for his consistency in domestic cricket, the right-armer has been at home on the international stage.

A Test debut on July 20 was followed by his ODI debut exactly a week later and Mukesh hasn’t been found wanting in either format, with red ball or white. Two wickets in the rain-ruined Port of Spain Test had whetted his appetite and he impressed in the 50-over showdowns, saving his best for last when he blasted out the West Indies top three on Tuesday on his way to figures of three for 30.

Jasprit Bumrah is due for a long-awaited comeback later this month on the T20I tour of Ireland, where he will have fellow paceman Prasidh Krishna, also just recovered from surgery, for company. Mohammed Shami is a certainty; Pandya offers another quality seam-up option and Shardul Thakur has married the happy knack of getting wickets with making useful runs. So, Mukesh might only be an outside bet as a pace option. But he has done all he could and has pulled ahead of Jaydev Unadkat and the sparingly used Umran Malik in the contention stakes.

The dust hasn’t fully settled yet. India will have to name their World Cup 15 midway through the Asia Cup, which will offer the clinching pointers to the final squad composition. Pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are starting to fall in place, though what that translates into is another matter altogether.