Preview; ICC Champions Trophy, 2017 & Analysis of Team India

Preview; ICC Champions Trophy 2017, England and Wales

As the Indian Premier League has come to a conclusion after 1 and a half months of non-stop cricket, there is light at the end of the tunnel for cricket fans, as the ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to commence in just about a week.

Yet another International tournament embarks upon us, it is only fair to do some justice to it by having some pre-tournament coverage.

Here is a look at the both the groups;

Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, England and New Zealand.

Group B: India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

One does not really have to look too much into detail to know which group is more competitive. Australia, New Zealand, England and underdogs Bangladesh clearly form the more intense group. In Group B, with all due respect to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, at a glance it seems as if these will be the two teams that won’t make it too far. After all, Sri Lanka have lost a warm up game to Scotland.

Whereas, that does not quite seem to be the case with the first Group. England seem to be the favourites, but even their home advantage gets neutralized as they, along with the three other teams, will have to battle it out in some extremely competitive contests. It might just seem like Bangladesh are slightly lower in terms of skill, but a deeper look into their squad suggests that they possess some brilliant cricketers; the number one All Rounder Shakib Al Hasan, the ever so explosive Tamim Iqbal, The young sensation Mustafizur Rahman, and the star of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Mahmudullah Riyad. Put these and a few other talented individuals together, and you have a solid team in front of you.

Team India

Squad;

Batsmen: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav.

Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja.

Wicket-Keeper/s: MS Dhoni.

Let’s start off by an analysis of the batsmen that have been selected in the Indian squad;

In the modern era, the first question that pans up when looking at a batting lineup is, “Are these batsmen capable of getting to a total in excess of 300 on a regular basis?”. As far as this batting lineup is concerned, the answer is NO. The reason being that the form of a lot of players going into the tournament is very questionable. Consider Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni or even Ajinkya Rahane. These batsmen have not been at their best in recent times, in IPL or even national colours for that matter. Shikhar Dhawan has been in fairly decent form, but India’s fortunes will more or less depend on the skipper, Virat Kohli. Within the squad, there is going to be a tussle for two middle order spots between Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh and Kedar Jadhav. With Dhoni having passed his best, the onus would lie on Hardik Pandya to convert his IPL form and emulate the same for India. The finishing will depend a lot on his exploits. It’s the start of the County season in England, so expect the ball to swing early on, posing a few threats to the fairly vulnerable Indian batting lineup.

Moving on to the bowlers;

Having said that the batting lineup is fairly vulnerable, the bowling attack is anything but that. Currently, India possesses one of the strongest death bowlers in the business. The likes of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have struck gold when it comes to execution of the yorker. The only worry seems to be with the new ball bowling. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will definitely open the bowling, but who will be the one entrusted with the new ball at the other end? Will India manage with Hardik Pandya, who is still alien to English conditions, or will Mohammed Shami/ Umesh Yadav be added to the playing XI? That is one question that would be discussed by the think tank, and surely, they would want to experiment in the warm up games. The lack of game time of Ashwin and Jadeja seems to be another area of concern. In the past couple of years, the duo has played just a handful of ODI’s, as opposed to key players from other respective nations. No matter how good you are, it takes a while to switch from one format to the other, in terms of line and length. These two were the heroes of the triumphant Indian side that won the title in 2013. The tracks in England have changed drastically over the past couple of years and are as flat as ever, offering very little assistance to the spinners. This makes it all the more important for Ashwin and Jadeja to strike the right lengths in those middle overs.

Ideal XI;

1)Rohit Sharma

2) Shikhar Dhawan

3)Virat Kohli (Captain)

4)Yuvraj Singh

5)Dinesh Karthik

6)MS Dhoni (WK)

7) Hardik Pandya

8)Ravindra Jadeja

9) Ravichandran Ashwin

10)Bhuvneshwar Kumar

11)Jasprit Bumrah

Analysis;

The Openers: Despite Ajinkya Rahane’s impressive numbers in England (7 innings, 283 runs at an average of 40.43, striking it at 92), Rohit Sharma would still be the safer option, considering his past performances in ODI’s. Shikhar Dhawan is a certainty in the batting line up, has been striking it well lately, scoring almost 500 runs in the recently concluded IPL. To add to that, Dhawan was the top scorer in the 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy. He is a free flowing batsman, perfect to aid Rohit Sharma, who takes atleast 20 to 25 balls to get his eye in.

Top Order: Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh fill in at numbers 3 and 4, completing the top order. Kohli has a prolific record in all the formats, ODI’s being his cup of tea. Just 28 years of age, the man has scored 7755 ODI runs at an impeccable average of 53.11, striking 27 centuries during his journey. However, his ODI numbers in England, just like Tests, aren’t very pretty to look at. After having played 10 innings in England, Kohli has scored just 228 runs, at a measly average of 28.5. Though, the situation gets better when his numbers in Wales are looked at; 196 runs in 4 innings, at an average of 65.33, including a hundred. Having said all of that, Kohli is the go-to man for India, his form is very critical for India’s success at the mega event. His golden run in ODI’s has continued off late, and surely enough, Kohli would be hoping to improve on those numbers in England.

Yuvraj Singh has been one of the mainstays in the Indian limited overs side for over a decade. On a given day, the southpaw can single handedly turn around his team’s fortunes. He will also have to play a role with the ball, in case Hardik Pandya has a bad day. True, like MS Dhoni, some may argue that he is past his best, but in such a high profile tournament, experience does mean something. As far as the numbers in England are concerned, the 35-year-old has done a good job over the years. Though he is yet to score a hundred, he has scored 583 runs at 34.29. Yuvraj also had a brief stint with Yorkshire in 2003, where he wasn’t too impressive. If there was ever an opportunity for Yuvraj Singh to silence his critics and prove that he still has what it takes, it is now.

Middle Order:  Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja make up the middle order of this lineup. Out of 4 of these players, 2 of them, being all rounders, have a very crucial role to play with the ball. Jadeja, in particular has had a very good test run, but at the same time, was one of the most expensive bowlers this IPL. Having said that, ODIs are a completely different ball game. Jadeja would be having very fond memories in England, having played 5 games, taking 15 wickets at an average of 22.40, along with a steady economy rate of 4.87.

Hardik Pandya has been striking the ball pretty well off late, but his job doesn’t end there. The bowling department is where the concern lies with Hardik Pandya. If he is going to bowl with the new ball, he will have to pick up wickets, at the same time not leak too many runs, something which he is often guilty of doing. After having played 7 ODI’s, he has picked up just 9 wickets at a decent economy of 5.80. However, the conditions in England should favor him.

Dinesh Karthik had a very good run in the Vijay Hazare trophy, as well as the IPL that took place just after. After having scored 607 runs in 9 innings for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karthik followed that up with 361 runs in the IPL, so it’s fair to say that he is in good nick. Karthik last played for India way back in 2014, it’s not really relevant to really look into those stats.

MS Dhoni can be used as a floater in the batting lineup. He adds so much of flexibility, can be used for consolidating early on, or even as a finisher, as the situation demands. He has a good record at number 4 (1223 runs at 58.24), will be interesting to see where Anil Kumble would want him to bat.

Lower Order/Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are the bowlers who complete this playing XI. Ashwin is more than handy with the bat. Even Bhuvneshwar Kumar can add a few handy runs, but that is not their primary role in the team.

Ashwin picked up 82 wickets in India’s home season, after which he suffered sports hernia and was ruled out of the IPL. There isn’t any doubt about his skill as a bowler in ODIs (145 wickets at 32.38), but the game time seems to be a matter of concern. The off spinner has played 5 ODI matches across 2016 and 2017, picking up as many wickets. This is where the couple of warm up games that India is playing, become of utmost importance. Surely, Kohli would be looking to give maximum time out in the middle to his premier wicket taker.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been in some seriously good form off late, and also has plenty of experience in English conditions. Early on, he swings the ball both ways, a skill that is greatly appreciated and aided in English conditions. Not just that, he has even upped his pace by a good 10kmph, clocking 140 kmph on a regular basis, making him all the more deadly. The death overs is another area that he has managed to improve considerably on. More often than not, he lands his yorkers to perfection, along with a brilliant change of pace. In England, he has bowled with an economy of 4.05, picking up 7 wickets in 4 games. It must be noted that he has evolved a lot as a bowler since the last time that India toured England. Expect that record to change in the coming weeks.

Jasprit Bumrah, or as they call him “BOOM BOOOM BUMRAH” is arguably the best death overs bowler at the moment. At just 23 years of age, he has picked up 22 wickets in 11 ODI matches at an average of 21.68, going just under 5 RPO. Really not much of experience as an international cricketer, but the speedster is a lot more mature than most 23-year-old cricketers around the world. In this case, the inexperience should work in Bumrah’s favor, considering the fact that he has a very unorthodox bowling action; the more you play him, the better you get. Won’t be surprised if he is asked to open the bowling, but would like to see him being used in the middle and end overs, 

choking the opposition when they need to score quickly.

Conclusion: To conclude, this Indian team seems like a steady one, but there are quite a few loopholes that will easily be exposed if those 2 to 3 important individuals fail to perform on a given day. Having said that, the bowling attack looks as strong as any that India have played in past ICC events. India’s campaign kicks off against Pakistan on the 4^th of June at Edgebaston, which has been a happy hunting ground for them. (Played 4; Won 3, Lost 1)

-Shaan Waseem.