One-day series loss leaves more questions than answers for India

India’s Shreyas Iyer leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the third ODI cricket match between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday (Aug. 7, 2024)
| Photo Credit: AP

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach started promisingly with a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in the T20Is before his side was shocked in the 50-over format, going down 2-0 in the three-match series.

The conditions in the one-dayers were on the extreme side, considering how spin-friendly the surfaces were, and batting got progressively tricky as the game went by. A case can be made that such pitches are an outlier, and one shouldn’t read too much into the results.

Wake-up call

However, the reverses in the ODIs might be a timely wake-up call to the team management, considering India fielded almost a full-strength side, missing only Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Gambhir’s big vision for the team indicates that he wants more all-rounders and the batters to roll their arms over. The likes of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma bowled a few overs. In last year’s 50-over World Cup, once India lost Hardik, it had only one genuine all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja and had a long tail. India’s batting depth in this series extended to eight and even nine in the final one-dayer by playing all-rounders Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag.

Another aspect evident throughout the tour, in both the T20s and one-dayers, was the preference to have a left-handed and right-handed batter in the middle as much as possible. However, whether the think-tank persists with this remains to be seen.

In terms of individual efforts, Washington and Parag’s bowling were the big positives.

Parag was impressive in the T20s and on his one-day debut, effectively mixing his off- and leg-breaks. Washington, the Player-of-the-Series in Zimbabwe, continued his fine bowling form. He was tight as ever and got more purchase off the surface to give vital breakthroughs in the one-dayers.

Dube got a sustained run in this series to see if he could be an effective back-up for Hardik. But the all-rounder did not set the stage on fire. While his bowling was decent, his inability to close out games through his willow was a let-down. Known for his ability to hit the spinners, Dube failed to do that in challenging conditions.

Rishabh Pant’s return to the one-day set-up in the final game came two years after his life-threatening accident but lasted only nine deliveries. For now, it seems K.L. Rahul, who has been impressive as a middle-order batter in the last few years, will continue to don the big gloves.

Concern

The big concern for the coaching staff will be that the team did not get much headway in answering the question about the third seamer. Arshdeep Singh was unimpressive in the two games and the team couldn’t try out Khaleel Ahmed or Harshit Rana either.

India would have wanted to shore up its resources for a few slots in an otherwise settled one-day set-up. The results, though, were mixed, and management will have plenty to ponder in the near future.