Time is running out. The Asia Cup, that starts in Multan on Wednesday with Pakistan taking on Nepal, is probably the last stop for five of the six nations that will also be part of the World Cup to firm up their final 15, if not the playing XI, for the quadrennial showpiece.
While Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have played a bit of ODI cricket of late, it is India who are slightly undercooked when it comes to the 50-over format.
Importantly, India have to test a few of their immensely crucial slots in a tournament where they may end up playing arch-rivals Pakistan thrice in a space of two weeks.
So, even if the team management wants to treat the Asia Cup as a laboratory, one failed experiment causing poor results may lead to a backlash that Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma won’t be too keen to face so close to the World Cup.
That said, India will have to try out important players who have not been playing for a while due to injuries. A win in their first match against Pakistan on Saturday in Pallekele, though, may give the team a little bit of breathing space to see the fringe players against Nepal, probably the only ‘soft’ game during the course of the two weeks. TOI takes a look at areas of concern for India during the Asia Cup…
RETURN OF KL RAHUL AND SHREYAS IYER
Coach Dravid announced on Tuesday in Alur that KL Rahul, who is recuperating from a thigh injury, won’t be part of the Indian team for the two matches. The absence of Rahul in the first two games significantly changes the dynamic of the Indian team. If Rahul had played, he would surely have batted in the No. 5 slot.
Now that he isn’t available in the first two matches, Ishan Kishan will get the nod. But the Jharkhand player is more suited to the opening slot and that may mean that Shubman Gill may have to come down to No. 3 and Virat Kohli to 4.
It is a batting order conundrum that the team management would ideally have liked to avoid so close to the World Cup.
“Rohit and Co. seems to have immense faith in Rahul and they want to give him as much time as possible to be 100% fit for the World Cup,” former national selector Devang Gandhi told TOI.
India’s preferred No. 5 Shreyas Iyer, too, is coming back from a long lay-off owing to a back injury. The last international match that Iyer had played was way back in January, and he has to hit the ground running. During his absence, Tilak Verma has come up in leaps and bounds and Iyer has to show that he is still the man for the job.
“Tilak is a great talent and if there is a lingering doubt around Rahul and Iyer, he will be very much in the equation,” Gandhi said.
JASPRIT BUMRAH’S ODI FITNESS
India’s pace spearhead has just returned to international cricket with a couple of good outings against Ireland earlier this month. But that was T20 cricket and the weather was way more agreeable. Bumrah had to bowl a maximum of four overs and there wasn’t the humidity of the subcontinent to deal with. “Bumrah seemed to be bowling at his best during the short spells he delivered in Dublin. But the rigours of bowling 10 overs in high-intensity matches against Pakistan is a completely different kettle of fish,” Gandhi said.
The team suffered immensely last year when they tried to rush Bumrah back from an injury before the T20 World Cup in November, leading to a long-term breakdown. Dravid has to be immensely careful in the way he handles his No. 1 bowling weapon, so that history doesn’t repeat itself.
CAN KULDEEP SEAL THE DEAL?
In recent times, the chinaman bowler has shaped up as the team management’s favoured option for the wrist-spinner’s role. But in the Asia Cup, he will be up against the best players of spin on good batting surfaces. The shadow of Yuzvendra Chahal is also looming, with Harbhajan Singh saying recently that the leggie is the best white-ball spinner for India and should have been part of the World Cup set-up.
