With pacer Bumrah out, tweakers take centre stage as Rohit Sharma & Co reshuffle squad; Men in Blue banking on all-rounders to deliver in Dubai
Axar Patel (left) and Ravindra Jadeja celebrate the wicket of England’s Joe Root yesterday; (right) Leggie Varun Chakaravarthy has replaced opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Indian squad. Pics/AFP
A distinct slant towards spin and a lack of ODI experience among the pace unit are the obvious takeaways from India’s Champions Trophy squad of 15, announced late in the night — as per norm — on Tuesday.
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To no one’s surprise (and we aren’t talking only about how the press release from the Board of Control for Cricket in India landed in inboxes at a symmetrical 2323 hours), pace ace Jasprit Bumrah was withdrawn from the provisional squad announced on January 18. It was always on the cards that the unquestioned spearhead would come up short in the desperate race against time to recover fully from the back injury that prevented him from bowling in the second innings of the Sydney Test against Australia on January 5.
Massive blow
Bumrah’s unavailability is a massive blow, without question. Player of the Tournament during the victorious march to the T20 World Cup title in the Americas in June and Player of the Series despite India’s 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests to Australia, the 31-year-old is the most complete and feared all-format bowler in the world. India will be hard pressed to fill the giant void. Mohammed Shami, only recently back in action after 14 months following heel surgery, carries a massive responsibility, given that the other two specialist pacers, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, Bumrah’s replacement, have only featured in eight and three ODIs respectively. This trio will be complemented by all-rounder Hardik Pandya on the fast-bowling front.
Also Read: Ranji Trophy: Yashasvi Jaiswal set to feature for Mumbai
That India expect surfaces in Dubai, where they will play all their matches, to assist spin is evidenced by the fortification of an already formidable quartet with the inclusion of wrist-spinner Varun Chakravarthy, at the expense of reserve opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Chakravarthy has been a revelation since his return to international cricket in October after three years on the sidelines. While all of his success has come in the 20-over game, the brains trust is confident he can translate his T20 form to the longer limited-overs format as well.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, left-arm-spinning all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and off-spinner Washington Sundar give Rohit Sharma plenty of options. That three of these four are quality batters is a bonus as India look to advance from a group that includes tournament hosts Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand.
The inclusion of Chakravarthy for Jaiswal might suggest India are a little light on batting depth, but that’s far from the truth. The surfeit of all-rounders lends muscle, while the timely return to run-scoring ways of Rohit and Virat Kohli is just the shot in the arm the team was looking for. For all their travails in the red-ball game, the current skipper and his predecessor are among the premier limited-overs batters of all time. To have them fit and firing ahead of a tournament of this pre-eminence will be massive for both confidence and feelgood.
Wicketkeeper dilemma
As they attempt to emulate the Class of 2013, India will be heartened by the consistency of Shubman Gill, Rohit’s deputy, and Shreyas Iyer, both of whom had outstanding series against England. The only nominal debate will be who among KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant should slot in as wicketkeeper-batter, potentially at No. 5. There is a strong case to be made for the X factor that the left-handed Pant possesses, but Rahul has been a behemoth in his role as finisher, evidenced by the faith shown in him in the England series by the team management.
Formidable not just on paper and with all bases covered, India boast the resources to go all the way if they play anywhere close to their potential. It’s with good reason that they will start as one of the strong favourites for the title.
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