India ready with bolstered bowling Dhoni left out of T20 series versus WI, Australia
With Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah back, hosts look better equipped to check West Indies batsmen
PUNE: Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer almost got West Indies their maiden victory of the India tour in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. While the tie didn’t help them break the deadlock, the visitors will take that in their stride given that they seem to be going from strength to strength with each game.
After a humiliating innings defeat in the first Test, they put up a brave show in the second before crumbling under pressure. In the ODI series as well, while Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stole the show in the first ODI, the Caribbeans bounced back in style — even the ice-cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni wore a worrisome look in the last over — in the second encounter.
West Indies are undoubtedly better while playing the shorter formats. More prominent batsmen than bowlers have emerged out of the islands in the past couple of years and on the flat deck of the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here, the visitors will again pin hopes on their batting firepower.
The Indian camp, too, is aware of this and with their fast bowling unit looking a bit lackadaisical, they have brought back Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for the remainder of the series. While Umesh Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed have retained their spots, it’s unlikely either would play on Saturday.
The Indian team didn’t practice on Friday, while the likes of Shai Hope, Himron Hetmyer, Chandrapaul Hemraj and Kieran Powell took the net bowlers to the cleaners.
So far, West Indies have managed to deal fairly well with the wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. While the former did pick three crucial wickets in the last game, he was hammered for 67 runs and the latter went for 63. Thus, with the inclusion of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah, the bowling unit is only expected to get better.
West Indies’ real worry lies with the stupendous form of Virat Kohli, who will be aiming for this third consecutive century. With Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu also living up to their reputation, it’s the Indian batting line-up that West Indies will be most wary of. Nothing that they’ve thrown at the hosts have worked so far and it’s expected to remain that way.
INDIAN WORRIES
While the hosts would be a happy lot to post 300 plus scores in both the ODIS, it has also left their middle-order virtually untested. Barring Rayudu, who was unbeaten on 22 in the first ODI and scored 73 in the second game, the trio of Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja all failed in Visakhapatnam.
Despite that, they managed to reach 321 but also found the opposition all but cross the finish line. The inability to wipe out the opposition isn’t something the think tank will be impressed with. That India still found a way back into the game after the visitors required 83 off 90 balls with six wickets in hand in the last game was perhaps due to the inexperience of the opposition than any out-of-the-world show from Kohli’s men. Pune:indian selectors left out MS Dhoni from the T20 squads to play three matches each against West Indies at home and in Australia. In what seemed to suggest a change in outlook of the selectors, young Rishabh Pant was picked as the stumper in both squads.
Dhoni, skipper of India’s victorious 2007 World T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup squads, has struggled in his role as an impact batsman in the shorter formats. The wicketkeeper-batsman, aiming to stretch his career until the 2019 World Cup in England, has come under criticism due to his inability to push the scoring and at 37, is clearly under pressure from the impressive Pant.
Dhoni’s exclusion also comes after confusion caused due to his non-participation in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The selection committee chairman, MSK Prasad, had asserted that Dhoni will play in the knockout stages of the one-day tournament, only for the Jharkhand coach to announce later that Dhoni didn’t want to rock the settled unit.
“Dhoni is not playing here and in Australia because we are looking at the option of a second wicketkeeper. That will be between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik,” Prasad, a former India stumper, said during a media interaction after announcing four squads, including India A squad to go on a shadow tour of New Zealand. When asked whether it was the end of the road for Dhoni in T20s, Prasad said: “No, not yet.”
Pant has been included in the ongoing ODI series against West Indies purely as a batsman, though it is seen as the selectors’ effort to provide the team management with a second wicketkeeper with India in the final phase of World Cup build up.
VIRAT RESTED
Prasad’s panel has also rested skipper Virat Kohli for the home T20 series against West Indies that will following the ODIS. Rohit Sharma, who led India to
victory in the Asia Cup ODI tournament last month, has been named skipper. However, Kohli will return to captain the side in the Australia T20s.
The selection panel also sprang a surprise by recalling opener Murali Vijay into the Test squad for the four-match series in Australia starting on December 6. Vijay, 34, was dropped for the third Test in England and excluded from the squad for the last two matches due to poor form. However, the batsman complained of a lack of communication from the selection panel.
Rohit Sharma, dropped after failing in South Africa, has been recalled for the Australia Tests after showing stupendous form in the Asia Cup and the ODIS against West Indies.
However, Shikhar Dhawan -he was dropped for the West Indies Tests and Prithvi Shaw given his debut – has not made the cut in the 18-member squad named.
All-rounder, Kedar Jadhav has been recalled for the final two ODIS against West Indies after missing the first two games due to injury and then proving his fitness in the Deodhar Trophy.