The upcoming Champions Trophy gives India a chance to prepare their defence of the world title in two years’ time. With only two players above 30 in the squad, India have done well to choose a young side for the london event. Amit Chaudhary talks to experts about their expectations from this squad and its longevity
It was the final of 2000-01 ICC Knockout Cricket Tournament, now known as Champions Trophy, and India were on the brink of a historic victory. They had posted a good total on board, thanks largely to captain Sourav Ganguly’s 117-run knock, against New Zealand. The men in blue were comfortably cruising towards the title, having sent back the cream of Black Caps batting within the first half of the innings and half the runs were still to be scored.
The remaining batsmen were two-bitcricketers and considering the rhythm of Indian bowlers, it was just a matter of time. But new man in, Chris Cairns, wasn’t known for throwing in the towel so easily. Though now a seasoned man, his rebelliousness then was hard to suppress. And that proved deadly for India. The all-rounder fought relentlessly, hung in there, scored a century and won his team their first major ICC ODI tournament.
It’s been over a decade to that heartbreaking loss and India has since then participated in four more editions of the Champions Trophy — never, however, coming so close to winning the title (though in 2002-03, India-Sri lanka shared the title as the Final was abandoned due to rain).
Now that Team India is ready to participate in the latest edition of the Champions Trophy under the charismatic leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, can they tick this boxIJ Does Dhoni have a team to conquer the English conditions that gave India deep scars in the 2011 Test and ODI seriesIJ
“It’s a very balanced team. We have two-three all-rounders and a good crop of young cricketers,” former India wicketkeeper and chairman of national selectors Kiran More told Foray Sport.
“It’s a very important tournament for us. If we reach semi-final or final, it’s going to be a big achievement for us, considering that it’s a young team. I think, the selectors have picked this team keeping in mind the next World Cup,” he added.
More’s former teammate and one of India’s finest left-arm spinners Maninder Singh is happy with the team combination without having high expectations from the young side. The squad is in its 20s apart from Dhoni and Amit Mishra.
“These are the best boys available in the country. The selectors have done a good job bringing them into the team. Though I am not sure how they are going to perform in English conditions, I am hoping they will do well,” Singh said.
However, despite all the positivity around this young side, fact is that it lacks in experience, especially at the top of the batting order. Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, heroes of India’s historic triumph on Australia recently, have a cumulative experience of just 16 ODIs with unimpressive averages of 13.80 and 17.81, respectively. Experience becomes crucial in conditions where pitches help bowlers.
Former opener Chetan Chauhan speaks of the value of experience in alien conditions. “I would have wanted Gautam Gambhir in the side,” he said, citing the experience he would have brought to the team. “Gautam has done well for India in the limited overs format. His presence in the team would have made our top-order formidable,” he added.
Madan lal seconded Chauhan on Gambhir. H added one more name to the missing list. “They could have included Gambhir because he is a proven match winner at the international level. Another one who should have been in the team is Yuvraj Singh because these two guys have done well in all major tournaments,” lal, former India medium pacer and national selector, said.
But More felt that the side has ample experience. “For me it’s quite an experienced side. Most players have played around 80 ODIs and most of them have also played Test cricket,” he said.
“Shikhar is, of course, new but he has played domestic cricket for a long time. He has more than 5,000 runs in domestic cricket. For me, Shikhar is a ready material for international cricket. He recently played a 180-run knock in a Test match and he looks like a very confident player. A person who counts on the domestic cricket, playing for seven to eight years — you can call him a newcomer in the team but he is experienced. After failing in ODIs earlier, he made a huge comeback in international cricket. That hunger is there and it will make him prove he is a quality player,” he added.
In England, where the ball moves both horizontally and vertically, the biggest challenge would be to adjust to the conditions since India have only been playing at home since early 2012. Adjustment, as Chauhan said, would be the key to success.
“They will have to adjust to the swing and bounce. In England, it’s always about a lot of movement. So, the players have to make adjustments in their technique and play side-on. Ones who can’t adjust their game will find it very difficult to play in England,” he said.
More, too, is worried about batting. “The only thing I am worried about is our batsmen. We need to have someone like Rahul Dravid, who can hang around at No 3. That’s why Virat Kohli is going to be very crucial for the team’s chances. But in swinging conditions, our bowlers have done well,” he added.
India have a good mix of young seam bowlers. If Umesh Yadav has pace to rattle any batsman. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can deceive with his ability to swing both ways. Ishant Sharma, with his 6’4” lanky frame, can extract extra bounce from the all too friendly pitches. Irfan provides a good option for medium-pace all-rounder and Vinay Kumar is good enough to replace any of them in case of need.
But again, the operative word is ‘adjustment’. Since the conditions are different from India, the line and length for the bowlers would be completely different.
“The success of medium pacers depends on how they adjust to the line and length and where they pitch the bowl. In England, if you want wickets, you need to pitch the ball up because short balls don’t move much in the air. They have good bowlers in Bhuvneshwar, Umesh and Ishant,” lal said, adding that he would have liked Mohit Sharma, the Haryana and Chennai Super Kings bowler, in the team.
Most importantly, the challenge ahead will work as a filter. It will separate the best from the good. “It’s a good test for Indian team heading into the future cricket calendar and there is World Cup also in 2015. We will know where we stand. That will help us make changes. And we need to give international exposure to young players. If we manage to come out of it well then it will be a good thing for Indian cricket,” More said.