India have named their squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup on Tuesday, 5 September. The team is currently participating in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, and beat Nepal by 10 wickets (DLS Method) on Monday to secure qualification for the Super Four stage.
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There were no major shocks in the squad, as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer were both picked, along with Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishan Kishan.
But how does the current squad match up to the last squad which played a home World Cup in 2011, and lifted the trophy? Here, The Sporting News compares the two.
Lack of left-handed batters
The current Indian lineup is plagued by one specific issue, which is not a question of quality but of role.
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If India’s favoured combination is in play at the World Cup, it is possible that the entire top 6 could be right-handed; Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya.
In the 2011 squad, India had Gautam Gambhir batting at No 3, with Yuvraj Singh at No 4 or No 5 in order to break up the right-hand dominant lineup. Later on in the tournament, even Suresh Raina replaced Yusuf Pathan as another left-hander.
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Having a series of right-handers means it could allow opposition bowlers to settle into a line and length to trouble the batters. With Ishan Kishan in the squad, he could play in the XI to break up this procession.
An improved pace attack
In 2011, India went into the World Cup with 4 pacers in Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth. At that time, perhaps only Zaheer could claim to be among the top 3 or 5 bowlers in the world.
The current squad, however, has three fearsome frontline seamers in Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, all of whom are among the best in the world at present. In addition, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya are pace-bowling all-round options, which India had none of in 2011.
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Despite the lack of a left-arm pace bowling option, there is a strong case to be made for India’s 2023 pace attack being superior to 2011’s. In addition, with the tracks in 2023 unlikely to be as dry as 2011, the seamers will probably have a bigger impact on games.
No top 5 bowling options
The final key difference from 2011 to 2023 as far India is concerned is the lack of bowling options in the top 5 in the batting order.
Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar have emphasised the need for batting depth, but the balance is difficult to strike without bowling options among top-order batters.
In 2011, India had their No 4 batter, Yuvraj Singh, able to bowl 10 overs in an ODI, allowing them to play the likes of Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin or Piyush Chawla at No 9. Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and even the likes of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were good for 4-5 overs which is not the case with the current squad.
Rohit Sharma said “2011 team had players who could bat & bowl, this time around, we have to work with players we have for the World Cup, we cannot overnight create players who can bowl”. pic.twitter.com/yffQ0GXxrB
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 21, 2023
Tilak Varma is one player who is both left-handed and gives India a part-time bowling option but has understandably not been included in the squad due to his lack of experience.