That India have been playing well and getting better with each match in the last three-and-a-half months is obvious. But just how good have they been?
Well, when they outplayed world champions England in Tuesday’s ODI, they did not have a Rishabh Pant or Ravindra Jadeja or Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Shami or Yuzvendra Chahal in the team. Neither did they have recent hotshots like Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Yet, Virat Kohli’s team humbled Eoin Morgan’s men.
That’s the “New India” of cricket, overcoming obstacles of all kinds with ease.
Since losing their very first series of the season — the ODIs during the Australia tour — Team India have done few things wrong. On Friday at the MCA Stadium in Pune, if they beat England in the second and penultimate ODI, Kohli’s boys will finish the international season with yet another series victory.
Not just sealing the series, India would also be gunning for the No.1 rank in ODIs if they manage to take a 2-0 lead in this three-match series. A 3-0 sweep would help them leapfrog England to be the top ODI side in the world.
India’s engine is currently powered mostly by youngsters and newcomers. After the Test leg of this home tour, in the T20I series and most recently in the first ODI, the Shardul Thakurs and Krunal Pandyas have shown that they can unbox match-turning performances even when the bigger names have an off day.
The latest addition to this list is young Karnataka and Kolkata Knight Riders quick Prasidh Krishna, who changed the course of the match in his maiden international appearance last Tuesday.
Besides, Shikhar Dhawan making a good contribution in his comeback game and KL Rahul regaining form also augur well for India. Perhaps, the only aspect where they need to put their thinking caps on is whether they should include Pant in place of the injured Shreyas Iyer or give an ODI debut to Suryakumar.
Like Shreyas, who’s out with an injured shoulder, Rohit Sharma too hurt his elbow in the opening game, but team sources say the matter is “not very serious”.
Moving on to England, after messing it up the other evening, they have now suffered a major blow as captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the remaining two matches after splitting a webbing between his right thumb and index finger during the opener. In Morgan’s absence, Jos Buttler will be leading the side with batting all-rounder Liam Livingstone set for an ODI debut.
Sam Billings too will miss Friday’s game due to a sprained collar-bone joint and Dawid Malan could take his place.
At present, more than England, it’s the Knight Riders who would be more worried about Morgan’s fitness since he is their skipper and one of their most reliable batsmen. The IPL is just days away.
The Root angle
England’s fortunes now depend a lot on how Ben Stokes fares. He did fairly well with the ball in the opener, but batting at No.3, he came a cropper.
However, the talismanic all-rounder seems to be feeling better after consulting Test captain Joe Root, who generally bats at No.3 in ODIs. “I did actually message Rooty asking him about his mindset at No.3 and he was pretty clear to me, saying, ‘Just play the way you play’.
“It’s just a slightly different role batting at No.3 rather than my normal (No.5 or 6) position in this team — just looking to potentially be facing 100 balls compared to maybe 60 or 70 like I normally do,” Stokes said.
Match starts: 1.30pm (IST)
