The upcoming three-match T20 series against Australia will put the Indian team to a stiff, but also an important test. The World Cup begins in five weeks and what better opportunity to fine tune for the tournament than a contest against the reigning world champions in the format?
The Aussies are not at full strength. David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis are notable absentees. Yet they pack enough power to put the Indian team under pressure, even on Indian pitches.
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India are currently no.1 ranked in T20Is, but after a disastrous Asia Cup where they failed to make the final, these matches against Australia have even greater significance. More so since the likely playing XI in the World Cup still looks unsure.
India’s squad for the World Cup was announced a week back and searching questions were asked of the selectors of some notable additions and omissions.
This is hardly unusual. All team selections provoked debate and this time was no different. However, there have been some hitches in the game plan that were laid out by the selectors and team management.
But those who are in the World Cup squad will be under pressure to show selectors that they deserved their place.
Among those overlooked by the selectors for the World Cup squad were Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Ravi Bishnoi.
Barring Chahar, who has spent a long while out of the game because of injury and rehab, the other three have all played for the national team as well as in the IPL in the past 10-12 months with notable success.
All four were named as standbys for the showpiece event and are in the squads that play Australia in the series starting this week as well as against South Africa that follows.
Essentially, the standby is an insurance against injury or illness to a player in the main list, but if either of them performs exceptionally, entry into the world cup can be contrived even if in a wink-wink manner.
The standby player in focus was Shami, who, many experts and former players believed, should have been in the squad given his experience and calibre.
Off the record, word was that the pace bowler, who has worked superbly in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah in all formats, would be given quite a few matches in the next two series to prop up his inclusion.
Unfortunately for Shami, he tested positive for Covid last weekend and had to pull out of the matches against Australia. He is in the team to play South Africa subject to recovery, but this leaves the team management in a bit of dither.
Shami’s replacement for this series is veteran Umesh Yadav. He has been a marvellous, hardworking, uncomplaining bowler despite being in and out of the side. But he had an injury recently when playing county cricket, and the selectors will keep their fingers crossed that it doesn’t flare up.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul, Bumrah and Harshal Patel have only just returned from injury and could likely be ginger on the field considering that the World Cup is barely four weeks away.
While injuries, form and fitness are obvious concerns, in my view, the biggest issue confronting the Indian team in the World Cup is whether the players – individually and collectively – are mentally prepared to tackle the acute pressure which the the high profile event will impose.
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Following the memorable 2-1 triumph over Australia in the 2020-21 Test series, India’s track record over the past 12-15 months has been rather disappointing.
Last year in England, Virat Kohli’s team, top-ranked by ICC then, lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand.
In South Africa, under Kohli (and Rahul), India lost the Test series 1-2 which they could have won 3-0.
This July, under Rohit Sharma, India lost the carried forward Test against England and to square a series that was theirs for the taking.
In multi-nation tournaments, the pattern is alarming. In the previous T20 WC in UAE (under Kohli), India failed to make the knockout stage. In the relatively easier Asia Cup (under Rohit) with only 6 teams participating, India failed to make the final.
In the preceding 4-5 years, India have been eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2015 (under MS Dhoni) and 2019 ODI World Cup (under Kohli), and the 2016 T20 World Cup (Under Dhoni). In fact, the last time India won a multi-nation tournament beyond Asia Cup was the Champions Trophy in 2013, under Dhoni.
This distressing pattern is made more serious by the fact that most defeats have come in tight matches, with India looking likely winners before losing nerve.
In the recent Asia Cup, for instance, India were involved in two last-over finishes against Pakistan, winning the first in the league stage, but losing in the important Super 4 stage. Subsequently, they lost to Sri Lanka too and crashed out.
The worry for India is clearly not talent. There is an abundance of this, in fact, creating problems of plenty for the selectors and team management. But the team has been found wanting in mental toughness and holding nerve in crises.
This is the area coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit have to work on swiftly on to be battle ready for the World Cup.
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