Asia Cup: A timely dress rehearsal for India

For the first time since the last T20 World Cup, will India have Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli batting together

Jasprit Bumrah won’t play this Asia Cup due to injury. Neither will Harshal Patel. But India still look a supremely capable bowling side without them. The bigger issue, and quite a longstanding one too, is how India’s batting stacks up. Not once in 24 matches since the last T20 World Cup (again, in the UAE) have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul featured together in an India eleven. Injury and rotational policy has influenced selection but the fact that India’s most anticipated batting reunion comes less than two months ahead of the T20 World Cup isn’t exactly comforting.

There has been a conscious change in intent in India's bats.  (REUTERS)

It’s not as if all three are hitting the ground running. Rahul is yet to bat in a 20-over match since returning from a sports hernia surgery. Sharma has hit just one fifty in 13 outings. And Kohli has missed 19 T20Is since the last T20 World Cup. All three have been criticised for slow starts in the past. And their strike rates don’t tend to improve drastically towards the end either.

Yet it’s more or less certain India will go with them in Australia as well. There has been a conscious change in intent though. Sharma has looked to come out of his shell earlier than usual. In England, Kohli was stepping out to fast bowlers. It’s all part of this tactic of playing all-out cricket India have recently embraced. But with Sharma, Rahul and Kohli finally back at the top, only now would India get a glimpse of the real picture.

It could still backfire in many ways. Early dismissals in search of quick runs could expose the middle order too soon. And if India still refuses to scale back, it could result in a situation where a finisher like Dinesh Karthik may have to come out to bat in the 12th over instead of the slog overs. UAE pitches can be two-paced. Karthik struggles against spin, as does Ravindra Jadeja. Rishabh Pant has had a mixed time of late and so once again Hardik Pandya could be summoned to play the anchor cum aggressor, a role he has been relishing recently.

The manner in which India go about their batting in the Asia Cup could give an insight into the psyche of a team trying to get their house in order while racing against time.

Two years ago, Sharma and Rahul opening with Kohli at No 3 would have been a no-brainer. Not any longer. When Rahul was injured, Rishabh Pant and Yadav had opened against England and West Indies. A left-right combination always puts off opposition bowlers and it might come down to the match-ups. Yadav, too, has shown the temperament and repertoire to adapt.

Pressure, no doubt, is on Kohli to keep his place in the eleven, especially after Deepak Hooda—274 runs, including a hundred in nine matches at an average of 54.8 and a spectacular strike rate of 161—delivered more than what was expected of him in the last two months.

All this lends a certain degree of flexibility to the top-order provided India are open to spreading their three most experienced batters across the line-up. Sharma has stressed on the same. "We want the guys to be able to bat anywhere and don't want them to be batting in specific positions,” he said during the West Indies tour. “We want the guys to be flexible, there are two ways to look at it depending on certain players."

Pandya to bowl full quota?

It’s an important question because on it hinges India’s batting combination. Fitness permitting, Jadeja is an automatic pick because his four overs on UAE pitches will be more than a handful. If Sharma, Rahul and Kohli and Yadav are the top four, Pandya has to bowl his full quota of overs to accommodate Dinesh Karthik and Pant apart from three specialised bowlers.

Be it this year’s IPL or the last few months of international assignment, Pandya has been the allrounder India desired for. But it remains to be seen if India are willing to push him in the searing heat of UAE. It could leave India in a bit of a tricky spot because if they want both Pant and Karthik to play, they might ideally like a backup bowling option to come from the specialised batters.

Pant is the only left-handed batter in the line-up so dropping him would be improbable. And even though Karthik did have a stellar home series against South Africa, he has looked out of place when called upon in the middle overs. India have often sent Jadeja or Axar Patel to ensure Karthik gets to bat in his preferred slot but that option gets nullified in case of a top-order implosion.

It’s thus with some uneasy questions that India again play the tournament opener against Pakistan in the UAE, this time though for the Asia Cup. The coaching staff is new, the captain is different, the batting philosophy has been given a hasty makeover but the squad isn’t very different to the one picked for the last T20 World Cup. For India, this Asia Cup may begin to answer if all the experimentation in the last 10 months will finally bear fruition. The timing seems right too. A grueling multi-team tournament is just the dress rehearsal India need to get into World Cup mode.