5th October 2023 is when the Ultimatum of Cricket, the ODI World Cup, commences in India after 12 long years. It was also in that very year when India lifted the World Cup and graced its Trophy cabinet for 4 years. However, since then India has had bitter-sweet campaigns in the next 2 World Cups, wherein they faced defeats in the Knockout matches. India though has a good chance of lifting the Cup this year, with home pitches and crowd acting as their catalyst. In around a couple of months India will begin their World Cup campaign and they do have a couple of mock sessions ahead of them before going for the final showdown. It’s the Asia Cup, back in the 50-over format to provide a perfect drill for teams to finalize their squads for the World Cup. India go into the Asia Cup in search of answers to a few questions and would be hoping to fix a number of spots going into the Marquee event.
The Middle Order Jostle –
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli pick themselves for the Top-three, but the question arises regarding who follows them next in the order. Injury returnees Shreyas Iyer and K.L. Rahul seem to be first choice picks for the Number 4 and 5 slots respectively, but their complete fitness remains a question. Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan are few amongst others who seem to be in contention to fill slots in case of absence of the regulars.
The Jasprit Bumrah question –
India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is out of action since a long period and though is gearing up to make a comeback, is highly injury prone. Indian fans would be hoping for Bumrah to stay fit through the course of the campaign or it would be difficult to fill in for the ace pacer.
A comeback for Kul-cha?
Indian pitches assist spinners and what better than having a destructible spin-troika comprising of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in their ranks. However, it is possible only if the team balance permits which in another scenario would mean one of Kuldeep or Chahal needs to be benched.
Who forms the Pace Battery?
Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar and most likely Jasprit Bumrah seem to be in contention to form the Pace battery of the Indian team. It would be interesting to see who pips whom in the race to make it to the World Cup squad.
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