Rajat Subhra Chatterjee
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India’s T20 World Cup campaign begins in Australia in a fortnight from now with a match against Pakistan. Apart from the age-old rivalry and tension and a possible loss of face in the event of a defeat, India’s Think Tank have been crying for the absence of the injured pace bowler Bumrah who failed to recover from his back strain injury. Though, it is not Bumrah whose absence would be felt most, it is the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who could be missed most in this tournament. But then it has been an unpardonable mis-management on the part of Rahul Dravid & Co to have allowed Jadeja to try for an unaccustomed sea-boating game in the Middle East which was just not on the card and cost India its most valuable cricketer in the forthcoming world cup. Not many words have though been placed on record on this issue from BCCI condemning this most unwise act by Rahul Dravid & Co but then BCCI itself is currently in a turmoil sea of uncertainty for the forthcoming election of its office bearers. They must be having very little time to reflect on this unsavory incident that took out Jadeja from the Indian squad quite unnecessarily. But that is another story may be told after a month from now.
Notwithstanding Bumrah’s injury and Jadeja’s whimsical self inflicted hara-kiri, Indian Cricket is in any case far from its dominance in world cricket of late. Amongst the top four Indian batters, only Suryakumar Jadav is looking solid. Others are patchy and fires by rotation ! Rishav Pant, a huge talent without doubt, hardly has justified in T20 recently. In the lower middle order only Karthik and Hardik Pandya look stable. Lets face the fact.
I have a question. What Deepak Hooda is doing in the squad ? May be as a part time off spinner ? And why Sanju Samson is not in the team ?
Only with the presence of Bumrah, with his quota of four overs in a match, India could not hope for a miracle, specially when the team has not yet picked up Md. Shami. If he is fit, Shami should have been an automatic choice. India’s Think Tank’s cry of Bumrah is though not wholly unjustified yet it is being projected as if, Bumrah alone would have won India the T20 Cup. He could be an impact player, yet, if the rest fail, what would remain Bumrah’s contribution ? Perhaps the greatest blunder Team management has committed in not picking Kuldeep Jadav, the wristy spinner for the Australian bigger grounds. And Kuldeep is bowling fabulously of late. His googly and chainaman could have been very useful against any opponent in big Australian grounds. Team selection has left a wide gap in calculation. This is perhaps the most disheartening part of India’s bowling strength.
It is pondered therefore, what kind of strategy planning have been done before embarking on such an important tournament ? The best bowlers are either out due to injury or not picked up – God knows for what. Then how could you wish to restrict the opponents with mere passengers in the bowling line up. Except, Axar, there is none to make a pressure. But then pressure from one end fizzles out if there is none from the other end. And that is what exactly going to happen in Australia. Let us take a look at India’s bowling bunch : Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Bhubaneswar Kumar, with spinners Axar, Ashwin and Chahal. Five amongst these plus Hardik would play. And there is no other option ??
Let me not sound pessimism. The law of average could be a cruel factor too for Suryakumar and Karthik as both these have been in huge form for last six months. I don’t wish the LOA would come down heavily on India’s fortune, yet if it comes, then Mr. Dravid, please be ready to stand on razor edge for the next coup.
