India's bowlers continue to prop up batsmen: Cricket World Cup talking points

Most good international cricket teams seem to be built around two, maybe three, exceptional batsmen and two, rarely ever three, exceptional bowlers – unless you are talking about England whose one-day international batting line-up, as an entity, is of a once-in-a-generation class. The point is, teams look for balance. However, this does not quite apply in India’s case. There is little doubt India lack depth in the batting. With Shikhar Dhawan injured, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the only two shining lights with the bat. MS Dhoni no longer crushes bowling attacks like he used to in his heyday, instead offering much-needed solidity lower down the order. KL Rahul has shown solidity at the top of the order but failed to kick on in most of the matches, although this might be changing if his half-century against Bangladesh on Tuesday is any indication. Then there is Hardik Pandya, who has been shunted up and down the order depending on the match situation and is doing, with limited success, what Dhoni used to. The problem is when both Rohit and Kohli flop, which has not happened so far, India have no one to anchor the innings and make a big score. In sharp contrast, they have an attack loaded with talented, aggressive and wicket-taking bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been among the wickets, but fellow seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is right up there in terms of quality and only trails in the bowling chart because he was laid low by an injury. As for the spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been so good they have not only kept Ravindra Jadeja out of the XI, but Ravichandran Ashwin out of the squad as well. Clearly, this Indian team – unlike teams of the past – is being led by bowlers more than batsmen. And it is possibly for this reason India have chosen to go with four specialist bowlers – even though none of them can bat with any real authority – with batting all-rounder in Pandya acting as a fifth bowler. ________________________ ________________________ Unlike most other teams, India do not have a strong sixth bowler, and they have not shown the need for one, except when they were getting battered by England. Even in that game, the hosts could have made a much bigger score if not for the strength of India’s bowling. It is this strength – aside from the consistency shown by Rohit and Kohli with the bat – that has underpinned India’s progress to the semi-finals. As much of a tinkerman Kohli can be as captain, he has shown little interest in changing the formula – other than replacing Kuldeep with a fit-again Bhuvneshwar against Bangladesh. Bhuvneshwar played in the first two matches, taking five wickets before breaking down with a hamstring injury in the third having bowled just 2.4 overs. If not for the irresistible form of Shami, his replacement, Bhuvneshwar would have returned sooner than he did in the Bangladesh game. He replaced Kuldeep, presumably because the Edgbaston pitch had something in it for the seamer. The question is whether the team management will be tempted to get the left-arm leg-spinner back in the XI seeing as he and Chahal hunt in pairs. Who knows what the semi-final line-up will look like, but if India were to play, say, England at Edgbaston, again, would it not be better for India to continue fielding three seamers? Besides, Bhuvneshwar is a marginally better batsman. _________________________ _________________________ India appeared to strengthen the batting in the Bangladesh match by replacing Kedar Jadhav with Dinesh Karthik. But did they really do that? Jadhav copped plenty of criticism for his underwhelming strike-rate with the bat during the defeat to England, but he has not had many opportunities to score runs in the tournament. The one time he did, he scored a fifty, against Afghanistan, and on a pitch that was not exactly a featherbed. To call Karthik a hanger-on might be unfair on him, for he has reinvented himself as a limited-overs batsman and leader. Yet, his evolution has been far from extraordinary since he made his international debut in 2004. Aside from contributing just eight runs against Bangladesh, he was also the fourth wicketkeeper in the XI on Tuesday (including part-time stumper Rahul). Would India not benefit more from Jadhav’s off-spin? Or, perhaps pick Jadeja, who is every bit as good a fielder as Karthik is apart from being a genuine all-rounder?

India's bowlers continue to prop up batsmen: Cricket World Cup talking points

Chitrabhanu Kadalayil offers his thoughts on the latest developments from India's World Cup campaign