Under-fire India turn to Ro-Ko to find winning touch against England
Veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not only have to perform for themselves but also play a key role in lifting the sagging Indian spirits against an upbeat England when the two sides clash in a three-match ODI series, starting here on Tuesday.
Kohli and Rohit, along with Jasprit Bumrah, are back in the mix to play the format in which bilaterals have been losing both context and sheen amid growing popularity of T20 cricket.
The 39-year-old Rohit and the soon-to-be 38-year-old Kohli still have the fire in their bellies and the runs to show for their efforts as they aim for an ODI World Cup swansong.
Facing Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue on tracks, which are spicier compared to sub-continental featherbeds, is a different challenge. But the duo has smashed English bowlers enough over the years to know what is required of them.
But their presence for this series certainly holds more significance after the Indian team, under a new T20 skipper, Shreyas Iyer, lost all but one of its seven T20I matches in the ongoing tour.
The only match they didn’t lose was a game that got abandoned. The 0-2 defeat versus Ireland and 0-4 thrashing handed by England has opened a Pandora’s Box with BCCI calling for a performance review.
In this backdrop, a team management, which hasn’t exactly made things easier for the two modern-day legends, will be compelled to welcome them with open arms in order to stem the rot.
An ODI series win can hardly gloss over the inadequacies of T20 squad’s disastrous show but it would certainly work as a confidence-booster.
The return of skipper Shubman Gill, another prolific 50-over batter and the experienced KL Rahul, makes it a fabulous quartet of top-order batters, who can turn any game on its head.
Add Shreyas Iyer to the mix, and there should be little concern about the batting unit. However, it is the bowling unit that needs to do some serious strategic thinking even as Bumrah, after a well-earned rest, makes a comeback.
