Heading into their opening match at the 2019 ICC World Cup against South Africa on Wednesday, all eyes will be on India and how they begin their campaign. While most in the cricketing world have tagged Virat Kohli and his side as joint favourites alongside hosts England, there could be a few latent weaknesses in this Indian side, mainly due to their selection and team composition.
While the most obvious perceived weakness in the Indian set up has been the number 4 slot since the last couple of years, with about half a dozen different players tried without anyone successfully nailing down that position. Even a day before their first World Cup match, there is still doubt over who might play that position between KL Rahul and Vijay Shankar.
KL Rahul hit an excellent century from number four for India today, helping his team recover from 102/4 to eventually post a score of 359/7.
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) May 28, 2019
Should he bat there during #CWC19? @sanjaymanjrekar had his say with @ZAbbasOfficial. pic.twitter.com/PYuU1kWYCX
However, that shouldn’t be a major concern for the Indians thanks to Rahul finding some form with a century in the warm-up game against Bangladesh. Also, the strength of the Indian top three tends to ensure the rest of the middle-order is almost never left completely exposed.
The more gripping concern for the Indian team could be their limited options in the fast bowling department. The selection committee decided to go for only three frontline pacers in their squad of 15, deciding to prove an equivalent number of spinners to complete their bowling unit. Amongst the three fast bowlers, only either of Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Mohammed Shami is expected to feature in the playing XI against the Proteas alongside Jasprit Bumrah in order to accommodate for the two wrist spinners.
Pace and spin in tandem in the nets 💪💪#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/UUKTPwvV7H
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 1, 2019
This combination has been brilliant in the Indian sub-continent; but could backfire on the seam and swing friendly conditions of England. Every other team barring Afghanistan have opted to play with only one frontline spinner, and it has been a World Cup dominated by the fast bowlers thus far except for Mohammad Nabi’s splendid spell against Sri Lanka. Apart from Nabi’s four-wicket haul, the top seven bowling performances thus far in the tournament have been by pace bowlers, with the likes of Oshane Thomas, Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc making the most of the extra bounce.
Also, playing with the two frontline spinners puts pressure on India’s seam bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya who tends to be expensive at times, with an economy rate of 5.54 in ODIs. The seamer also might not be the ideal candidate in England due to him neither being a hit-the-deck baller, nor a swing specialist. Bowling at his pace on the surfaces of the World Cup where the ball tends to come onto the bat pretty well, Pandya could prove expensive.
everyone talking about KL rahul at 4 but India will be stuck with 5 bowlers only if Jadhav cannot bowl. Then they have to play jaddu or shankar at 6. 5 bowlers only is a pretty big risk if you are defending.
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) May 29, 2019
India’s lack of options in the all-rounders department could also be a deterrent at the World Cup if one of their pacers or spinners endures a bad day. If either Vijay Shankar or Kedhar Jadhav don’t play, the team would be confined to playing with only five bowlers, without any back-up options. Compare that to England or Australia who have at least six or seven bowling options in their ranks.
Feature photo courtesy: AFP Photo/ Glyn Kirk
