IND vs WI: With World Cup looming, India focus on the bigger picture but lose the plot in 2nd ODI

Before the ODI series against West Indies even began, one would have primed Team India to have it easy across the three matches, but if their “experimentation” on Saturday was to go by, the Men in Blue certainly have their task cut.

One would wonder why the team management decided to rest Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two of the senior-most cricketers in the current squad, with less than three months to go for the ODI World Cup.

Having said that, Saturday provided the perfect opportunity for the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson to at least make a case for selection ahead of the showpiece event, but both eventually fell victim to a dramatic batting collapse.

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From 90/0 at one stage, the Men in Blue, being led by Hardik Pandya, collapsed to 181 in 40.5 overs, something that would have even taken West Indies by surprise.

Ishan Kishan stands out once again

Generally speaking, the Indian batters endured a difficult outing on what was a Barbados pitch that provided a bouncy track, but someone who stood out among the batters was Ishan Kishan once again. The 24-year-old has probably done justice to his selection in the playing XI, and it’s safe to say that Kishan is probably on the verge of sealing his spot in India’s World Cup squad.

Even in the first ODI on a similar track at the same venue (Barbados), when India suffered a mini-batting collapse in their 115-run chase, Ishan Kishan was the standout performer with the bat, with a 46-ball knock of 52. Of course, chasing down a low total in the first ODI helped India’s case in a big way, but questions still remain on the stability of India’s middle-order batting, especially after what we witnessed on Saturday.

Despite the defeat, head coach Rahul Dravid was all praise for Ishan Kishan. “I think Ishan has done well. This is his third fifty in a row, counting Test one as well. Again he is someone who is taking the opportunity when he is given the chance. I think that’s all we asked from a young player. We want to give them as many chances as we possibly can. We can’t give everyone a chance all the time; there are other talented guys as well. We try our best to give them as many chances as possible,” said Dravid.

Dravid justifies India’s selection

Where did India lose the game? At the very early stages of the match. Many would have questioned the team management’s decision to rest Rohit and Kohli at a time when the two should be playing more games leading to a World Cup. And yet, without the duo, India failed with their batting experiments quite miserably, and while they did, questions like why Axar Patel was promoted to number four in the batting order will remain.

Axar Patel had not batted for India in an ODI at the number four position, and in all honesty, it was a move that backfired in a pretty brutal way.

Someone like Sanju Samson or Suryakumar Yadav would have been a much more better option for the number four slot, given their aggressive batting technique and SKY’s all-out approach in limited-overs. And if the team management was looking for experimentation among the batters, maybe they should have done so when the Men in Blue played Australia in March earlier this year.

Dravid, however, was defensive of his team selection, justifying that it was important to know the team combinations ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup.

“We have to try out other people and we have to give other people some chances so that we, you know, in the worst case scenario, at least they have game time behind them. It gives us an opportunity to make some decisions on players.

“You know, we just felt that honestly, in a series like this, with only two-three matches to go before the Asia Cup, you know, playing and honestly would not have given us, you know, too many answers. But, you know, with the injuries that we have in the NCA and some sort of uncertainty around them, we wanted to give some of the other boys a chance so that if required, then you know they can play,” said Dravid after the match.

These questionable selection tactics will remain to haunt India for some time, especially with a defeat that has ended in such a fashion. The defeat made it clear that middle-order batting is what the Men in Blue will need to focus on, and irrespective of Kohli and Rohit plays or not, it will be pivotal that Suryakumar steps up his case, while time is running out for a player like Samson.

Only time, and to an extent form, will tell which India will show up in the third ODI on Tuesday.