The ICC ODI World Cup 2027 is still a year away, but India captain Shubman Gill wants to take guard right away for the showpiece event as he believes there is not much time left for experimentation.
India have not had the luxury of fielding their best XI because of injuries and scheduling hurdles in their just-concluded ODI series against the West Indies. Though India won the series 2-1, the unsettled make-up of the team is clearly a worry for skipper Gill.
“I honestly think there is not that much time to experiment… The combination that we want to play in the World Cup, hopefully, we get all the players that are available from the next series. We want to start playing with that combination,” Gill said on Saturday, after India lost the final match of the West Indies series by five wickets in Mullanpur.
India missed their frontline bowlers in the series, with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel playing at the Asian Games. Pacer Prasidh Krishna’s injury during the Guwahati ODI added to their woes.
“I would say it’s been unfortunate, you know, with the injuries and with the scheduling, the other matches being around, it’s been a little bit unfortunate that we have been not able to play the bowling line-up that we would like to,” Gill said.
He, however, maintained that the absence of top players was a good opportunity for the reserves. “I think it’s a good chance for the other players, you know, the players who might not have been in the team had the full-strength bowling line-up been there. So it’s a great chance for them to showcase their skills.”
Need for early scalps
Talking about specifics, Gill said that the team’s Powerplay and death bowling has been a cause for concern.
“I think bowling in the Powerplay and in the death has been something, you know, that has hurt us. If you don’t get off to a good start in the Powerplay, it’s not easy to take wickets in the middle overs. It’s not easy to create chances with only four fielders being outside.
“The intensity of the game becomes completely different if you don’t take wickets in the Powerplay or in the middle overs.
“And that’s the reason why this series has been so high-scoring, because it’s been difficult for the bowlers to take wickets in the middle overs,” Gill explained.
On Saturday, Windies skipper Shai Hope struck an unbeaten 162 to take his team home in a record chase of 352.
Poor catching
Poor catching also affected the team’s momentum, Gill said.
“I think we dropped around three or four catches… dropping three or four catches breaks the momentum of the team.
“Our fielding in the series has not been up to the mark. I think in the whole series, we dropped around seven catches, if I’m not wrong.
“And even on the field, we gave away too many runs, we were quite sloppy. I think leading up to the World Cup, these are the areas where we definitely need to get better at,” the captain said.