India’s muddled World Cup countdown starts against eliminated West Indies

West Indies’ first ODI assignment since being ejected from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe – thus making this the first World Cup without their presence – begins at Bridgetown when they take on India just three days after losing the Tests 0-1. It can be argued that West Indies are actually better in Tests than ODIs, given it was only last year that they won a series versus England and the fact that in the past two years the only ODI series they have won has been against Netherlands and the UAE. Which raises the question: are we looking at another series win for India?

Since the start of 2021, West Indies have lost ODI series to Sri Lanka, Ireland, New Zealand, India (twice), Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh. In that time, India have beaten West Indies, England, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka while losing to South Africa (away), New Zealand (away), Bangladesh (away) and Australia at home. India are ranked third on the ICC ODI table and West Indies sit at tenth. It appears we are looking at a no-contest, but for Rohit Sharma’s team there is plenty of importance across these three ODIs.

In the absence of Rishabh Pant (out until 2024, it seems), Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul and concerns over Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI form and the nature of their bowling lineup, each ODI that India plays before the start of the World Cup on October 5 carries significance. India cannot wait to see if Bumrah will be 100% percent match ready by the time the tournament starts, so these ODIs in the West Indies, the Asia Cup and then against Australia have to be used to locate other pace bowling options.

If fit and available, there is no better No 4 option than Iyer who since 2021 has averaged 51.12 in ODIs at a strike-rate of 92.95. But should he not make it for the World Cup, who bats at No 4 for India? The team has struggled with this position for long, and a repeat of the fiasco before the 2019 World Cup (Ambati Rayudu out, Vijay Shankar in) cannot be afforded. Once Pant was sidelined, Rahul had been chosen as India’s World Cup wicketkeeper batsman given his very good record in the middle order, but coming off a long recovery period it cannot be expected that he don the gloves so India have to choose between Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson for their World Cup 11.

Who are the options? Suryakumar has batted up and down the order but averages 24.05 after 23 matches and his most recent outing in ODIs resulted in three consecutive ducks. Samson can float around the lineup and is a solid finisher, who averages 71 with a strike-rate of 105.57 after 9 ODI innings. Kishan owns an ODI batting average of 42.50 after 13 innings but if you sift through the stats, the fact is that he has batted the most times at No 4 (six) and averages 21.20 as compared to 119 as opener and 40.75 at one-down. Yes, Kishan started his cricket career at the domestic level as a middle-order batsman but this is not a spot he plays regularly at for India in white-ball cricket or Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Beyond the current pool of players who have played ODIs over the past 10-odd months, India do not have any visible middle order options to add ahead of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. The openers are sorted in Rohit and Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli remains a solid force at one-down.

Regarding the bowling, the selectors have picked for this series Pandya, Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, and Umran Malik. Not factoring in Bumrah’s return for the World Cup at this stage, it is safe to assume that from this pool of options the picks for the tournament should be Siraj, Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, and Shardul with Mohammed Shami returning after being rested for the West Indies tour.

Mukesh and Unadkat are highly unlikely for the World Cup, which leaves Umran as the man India need to try and fit in given his pace. For this to happen, he needs to play a lot of matches before then. Chahal, despite his pedigree, has played only six ODIs in the past 12 months as compared to Kuldeep’s 15 so prima facie it is the latter who looks set as India’s top spinner. Axar has played 11 ODIs in this time and Washington Sundar 12, so we can assume that for the World Cup the management wants one specialist spinner and more allrounders.

Questions, with no clear answers. India cannot wait longer to mull their options. These three ODIs in the West Indies need to be taken seriously with the World Cup less than two and a half months away. Their opponents may be West Indies, at an all-time low in ODI cricket, but expect India to go into this series with their focus on October 5.

India likely ODI XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Umran Malik