Horrified by a thumping defeat in its final game, the Indian team is expected to adjust its batting pattern from cautious to more fearless in the series-defining third ODI against England in Manchester on Sunday.
The team under Rohit Sharma put on an ultra-aggressive batting show with great success during the recently concluded T20 International series, but the way it chased an undersized target of 247 in the second ODI has a lot going for it. are desired.
Rohit would raise his hand and admit that he and other veteran Shikhar Dhawan were a bit on the defensive after some fine swing and seam bowling from Reece Topley and David Willey.
That Virat Kohli’s endless saga of failure has only compounded the problems is also a big factor, but senior openers who played two maiden overs at the start didn’t indicate a positive attitude either.
That’s why a change of approach is needed and that requires a paradigm shift in mindset as we go for the tricky chases, unlike the first game at the Oval where the game was single-handedly won by Jasprit Bumrah’s six-wicket-haul .
“I want these guys to take on the game and see if they can find something different about their own game instead of looking at the role of the team. If they take the team out of that situation, imagine the confidence that they will get out of that.” Rohit had said after the second game.
The approach of going for leather from the word “go” worked wonderfully in T20 Internationals and there’s no reason it can’t work in the 50-over format that many teams see as an extension of two T20 innings.
Even England’s star-studded batting lineup looked totally out of place in the two games and suddenly it seemed like hosts with power hitters of the caliber Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone are playing an archaic one day game.
Dhawan, Kohli and worries in ODI
But India won’t mind as long as these formidable men are kept on a tight leash, but the visitors should change their playbook. And it will be challenging in a morning ODI at Old Trafford, where the ball moves significantly and India has in mind the defeat of the 2019 World Cup semi-final at this location.
Rohit’s approach in most matches is not a problem, but Indian team management led by head coach Rahul Dravid will have their own problems if 37-year-old Dhawan is their choice to go to the ODI World Cup in 2023 next year.
The southpaw, apart from Rohit and Kohli, was the most prolific goalscorer, partly because he opens the striker, but also because two extremely talented players in their prime gave him the chance to play his natural game.
But with the volume of bilateral ODIs shrinking considerably (most teams play three-game series) and Dhawan only plays in one format, he always has those forced breaks, which definitely affects his rhythm.
While ODI World Cup is still 15 months away, serious consideration is needed as to whether Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli will become India’s No. 1, 2 and 3 in the future.
If he comes to Kohli, he might be looking forward to this more than a month break after this match as he is expected to go back to the nets and to the drawing board trying to find a solution to his forefoot press and pricking problem and poking at supplies that move off the length.
The weakness is well documented, but now the fix is needed as far as the whiteball game is concerned.
On red ball, a certain shot can be avoided and can still be scored, but in a form where time is of the essence, a solution is needed as points can be scored on certain throws, as happened at his peak.
Jadeja’s ever-changing role
As for India’s bowling attack, it is expected to perform in at least four out of five white-ball games so far.
Bumrah has hit the belts and Mohammed Shami produces those unplayable wicket-taking deliveries more often than not. Yuzvendra Chahal has changed his technique as he bowls a little slower and lets the ball hang in the air to create trickery.
Prasidh Krishna with his ability to bounce even from length is only going to get better and Hardik Pandya’s bowling rhythm has certainly brought a smile back to the Indian camp.
The only worrisome aspect is that Ravindra Jadeja is in stark decline as a powerful left arm spinner, who has probably gone unnoticed and trumped by impressive performances from the others.
promoted
Jadeja has transformed into an all-rounder and only time will tell if that will work for India in subcontinental conditions where at least two spinners have to bowl 20 overs and the Saurashtra man is expected to be one of those two.
teams
England: Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey.
india: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
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