The World Cup

The bigger gain was to more or less get his ‘Plan A’ for next year’s ODI World Cup in England ready.

The two young wrist spinners (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal), with 33 wickets, showed that their match-winning ability is not surface dependant. In Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah and Hardik Pandya as the allrounder, the five-man bowling attack looks settled.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not exactly going anywhere till 2019 World Cup. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the automatic Nos 1, 2 and 3 in this line-up.

It is the Nos 4 and 5, which the ‘Men In Blue’ will have to settle.

There are around five options for two slots.

Ajinkya Rahane, due to his success at No 4 position during the 2015 World Cup in Australia, is being considered for the role even though his strikerate in the middle overs has repeatedly come under scanner.

Manish Pandey has done nothing wrong in limited chances that he has got, while Kedar Jadhav is a cheeky stroke player and his round arm off-breaks cause a lot of irritation to the batsman.

Then there’s Shreyas Iyer, a natural strokeplayer and a prolific performer at the domestic level.

Last but not the least is veteran Suresh Raina, who looked hungrier than ever during the three-match T20 series.

A ‘man of the match’ award in the last T20 International would boost his confidence and it is being said in Indian cricket circles that his return in the 50-over format is just a matter of time.