Kolkata: India are reigning World T20 champions but it will count for little at the Asia Cup because the core of the current squad is fundamentally different from the one that beat South Africa at Bridgetown last June.
No Rohit Sharma, no Virat Kohli, no Rishabh Pant, no Ravindra Jadeja, and strategically India have decided to embrace a riskier approach where they rely on their batting depth to go hammer and tongs all the way.
It automatically puts greater impetus on the allrounders, making the Asia Cup an ideal tournament to go through every permutation and combination before the T20 World Cup at home next year.
It doesn’t in any way undermine the need to win the Asia Cup too, because there is simply no better habit than winning. And based on the rankings and pedigree, India look far ahead of the rest of the competition.
Suryakumar Yadav isn’t one to believe that though. “Kisne bola? (Who said that?),” he asked at the press conference on Tuesday. “I haven’t heard of it. But you have played in this format and you know how your preparations are. If your preparations are good, then you will be very confident when you take the field. We are playing T20 as a team after a long time. But we were here three-four days back, had a good time together as a team, and we are really looking forward to this tournament.”
First up will be UAE on Wednesday followed by the Pakistan clash on Sunday. Apart from winning both, India also have a couple of more recalibrations to conduct throughout the tournament. There is a batting reshuffle in order, now that Shubman Gill has been inducted as vice-captain, meaning he is likely to open the batting with Abhishek Sharma. Since Sanju Samson has rarely batted below No 3, and India can ill afford an extra batter at the expense of an allrounder or a bowler, it’s more or less certain Jitesh Sharma will be India’s first choice wicketkeeper batter in this tournament.
There can never be enough bowling options, Sourav Ganguly had often asserted when he was leading India in white-ball cricket. And while India have a good range of allrounders, the management isn’t averse to the idea of having more options.
“The more guys that can give the captain options, that is obviously a great position to have,” said India bowling coach Morne Morkel on Monday. “Yes, we will have our frontline guys that we can attack (with). But if we can keep on developing guys, part-time guys to do a job, it gives us so many more options in terms of combinations for selection.”
India are broaching this topic primarily because as long as Jadeja was playing, it allowed them to go with Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav as specialist spinners while not compromising on their batting depth because Hardik Pandya could open the bowling. Now that option has been taken away due to Jadeja’s retirement, India would want to float in an allrounder, preferably Shivam Dube if the pitch has a tinge of grass in it.
“I’m always pushing for allrounders to work hard on both skills,” said Morkel. “Sometimes guys can get a little bit naughty and practice or focus just on one skill. But here, in this environment, we want to leave no stone unturned. On the day, we’re going to need somebody to do the work for us and conditions might favour him (Dube) more than somebody else. So, for us, it’s about being professional. It’s about taking that responsibility of putting quality work in there.”
If India go for Dube, Kuldeep Yadav is likely to be dropped. On the back of missing all five Tests in England, this is another setback to Kuldeep’s fortunes, primarily because the management might feel he doesn’t hit enough sixes. Morkel however backed Kuldeep to keep his chin up should the axe fall on him. “I think he’s a very professional athlete. His attitude since England, where he received hardly any game time, he’s still the guy that put the overs in,” Morkel said.
It’s a conundrum India need to sensibly solve in this Asia Cup. Playing four specialist bowlers along with two allrounders was the way to go all this while. And if India do that, Kuldeep plays. But the Dubai pitch isn’t exactly dry and Gambhir is someone who believes in packing the side with allrounders. UAE won’t be expected to test India but there are certain markers the world champions might want to lay down in the first match itself. Biggest among them is how deep they believe they need to bat to remain the top draw.