India vs Sri Lanka ODIs preview: In World Cup year, playing your best XI makes all the sense

Looking from an Indian perspective, the Sri Lanka ODI series is the right time for the Men In Blue to start playing their best XI. We are well past the time to try out new faces and make experiments series after series. The ODI World Cup in India is just n ine months away and playing your best team gives the layers an idea about their roles and the chance to keep playing their respective roles till the World Cup to get a hang of it. Of course, the workload management and the injuries have to be kept in mind.

The best Indian XI?

In this Indian side, the top 5 or 6 pretty much pick themselves. KL Rahul has to open for me. I know There is a bit of form issue with him and that left-handed Ishan Kishan is available as well. But you cannot pick a left-handed option just because it is available. I will still go with Rahul. I am going to give him that opportunity because this is a World Cup year and he needs to play in your best XI for the batter has so much class.

That is why I am picking Rahul to open with Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli will take his spot at No 3. Suryakumar Yadav has made a great case for himself to be the No 3 in this lineup but I am not going to play him at No 3 just yet. It is true that Surya can easily play at No 3 in most of the top sides in the world because of the form that he is in and the way he is dictating term in an innings. But it is difficult to take No 3 spot away from Kohli. The former captain has got unbelievable record across formats but in ODIs, he is just too good and deserves to play at his favourite spot.

Surya bats at 4. Shreyas Iyer will bat at 5 for he has been one of the most consistent players for India in the middle order in this format. Hardik Pandya will be at No 6. Shubman Gill misses out. He is a player for the future but at the moment, it is tough to get him in.

To me, the India batting lineup looks settled. It is the bowling department which needs a little bit of working out. Jasprit Bumrah comes back and I am assuming he may not play all the games. His comeback has to be done carefully and slowly. Arshdeep has some issues with no ball at the moment but I love the left-arm pace option that he brings. Yuzvendra Chahal will play ahead of Kuldeep but I would like to see the left-arm spinner play at some stage.

Between Mohammed Shami and Umran Malik, the selection should be made after looking at the pitch. If it is really a flat, benign surface, I am going with Malik for the extra pace. If there is a bit of grass and life on the surface, then I am very reluctant to leave out Shami. I am picking Axar Patel to bat at No 7. Hardik and Axar balance the side pretty well. With them in the side, you have four seamers and 2 spinners.

It is true that Hardik now has a big role to play in India’s limited-overs side. A bit like Ben Stokes for England. Having Hardik and Stokes in the XI means you can play your best batters and bowlers. There are sides in the world, like Sri Lanka, where you see more all-rounders in the XI. But I am a big fan of playing pure batters and bowlers and players like Hardik Pandya allow you to do that. Pandya is a two-fold win for India. Firstly, he brings both batting and bowling skills. Secondaly, he helps India to pick their best batters and bowlers.  Another important point is the workload of Bumrah. I am sure Rahul Dravid and Co will be keen to get that right. The Indian management will need to ensure he is building up nicely for the World Cup which is in nine-month time.

India, to me, look a formidable ODI side as they have got all bases covered. They have a strong batting lineup and a good mix of pacers, with Umran and Bumrah their ace pacers with some mystery spin to offer in Chahal and Kuldeep. You need raw pace and mystery spin to make a difference, especially in the fifty-over format. The one difference when you are playing ODIs and T20s is that in the T20s, in middle overs bowlers can wickets because of batters’ error because the game runs at a quick speed. In ODIs, 50 overs seem a quite long time and what you need in order to break the partnership in the middle overs is pace and mystery spin. Otherwise, the batters will keep milking runs at 8 runs per over. You need someone like a Mark Wood (in England), Bumrah or Malik who can break partnerships through sheer pace, unsettle batters with short balls. With a powerful batting top 6, good spinners and fast bowlers like Malik and Bumrah, India have a strong outfit.

As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, they have got more potential all-rounders, as I stated earlier. In this series, they might work for them to cover their batting and bowling. The question that Sri Lanka need to answer is whether they have the bowling which can run through the strong Indian batting order. Can they break partnerships in the middle overs? If they cannot challenge the Indian batting, it will be a tough series for Sri Lanka. That is why I feel Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana hold huge importance for them as they have got the mystery to make some damage.

I like Dhananjaya de Silva who is a good all-round cricketer. Dasun Shanaka is in good form and doing a good job with the side. But what will matter for Sri Lanka is their bowling if they are to beat India in this ODI series.