With eye on World Cup, Rohit Sharma not averse to tweaks in the eleven

After loss to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, India skipper says team is 90-95% settled and that they will keep experimenting to find the best XI

There can be no better preparation for a World Cup than winning. But India captain Rohit Sharma is willing to take losses on the chin as well. India have been given a reality check with consecutive defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup in the UAE.

Sharma admitted the failure to bat Sri Lanka out of the game. (AP)

A rotational policy and injuries to key players like Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel may have prevented India from fielding their best eleven. But even if you overlook that, the fundamental problems haven’t been entirely sorted. Too many experiments in the middle-order, too much batting inconsistency and refusing to give Deepak Hooda the ball which led to Hardik Pandya being stretched as an all-rounder—these are not new problems for India.

That the batting is still trying to realise its potential, especially in the first 10 overs, is itself a massive worry. The dismissals of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli on Tuesday night slowed India in the Powerplay but skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav resurrected the innings with a 97-run stand. Both fell in quick succession but none in the middle order built on the momentum provided by them.

Sharma admitted the failure to bat Sri Lanka out of the game. “The way we batted in the first six overs we couldn’t score as many as we wanted to because we lost wickets,” he said at the press conference after the six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in Dubai. “After that we got a bit of momentum, and then we should’ve capitalised. In the 7-8 overs after Powerplay, we couldn't close the game with our batting.”

With the World Cup just over a month away, Sharma refused to press the panic button. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong; it looks like it from the outside, but we don’t look at it that way,” he said. “I’ve been at many press conferences and when you lose such questions will be asked. It’s normal. But as far as the team is concerned, you can go in and see (in the dressing room), all the boys are relaxed, chilled. We need to have such an atmosphere whether you win or lose.”

The selections were still not convincing, like choosing Rishabh Pant over Dinesh Karthik. With Jadeja injured, a left-hander was probably needed in the top six but does that mean one ignores the form Karthik has carried into the Asia Cup?

Sharma at least thinks so. “See, it is simple. We wanted a left-hander to bat in the middle. That’s why Karthik is out. Not because of form or anything. We wanted a left-hand batter in the middle to take pressure off, but it didn't happen. But by no means has DK been dropped because of poor form. We always want to have flexibility in the group. We will keep changing players every now and then depending on the opposition. Four-five batters will play, but there will always be those one-two changes in the batting.”

Those changes however may not give desired results if all the resources are not used simultaneously—like not giving Deepak Hooda even an over as part-timer off-spinner. It’s significant because following Jadeja’s injury and Avesh Khan’s illness, India are playing only Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh as specialist fast bowlers, complemented by two spinners from among Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi and Ravichandran Ashwin. The fifth bowler’s duties should ideally be shared by Hooda and Pandya because spin has been difficult to score off and Pandya’s workload needs to be carefully managed since his injury return. Sharma has refused to explore that option.

“Yes, we have the sixth bowling option, but we also wanted to try out with five options and see what happens and what doesn’t happen,” he said. “Today Hooda was there, but both their right-handers (openers) were set, and I didn't think I could bring him on then because we were looking to take wickets through our attacking spinners Ashwin and Chahal. Yes, if we got early wickets, I wanted to bowl Hooda, he was in my plan. But yes, six options is always nice. When we play the World Cup it will be at the back of our mind to play with six options.”

It might seem hara-kiri experimenting with the eleven so close to the World Cup (Oct 16 to Nov 13) but Sharma assures the team is settled otherwise. “It’s 90-95% settled, just a few changes that will happen,” he said. “When you talk about experiments, yes, we wanted to try out certain things. If you look at the combination we have been playing before the start of the Asia Cup, it was with four seamers and two spinners, and the second spinner was an all-rounder. I always wanted to try and find answers as to what happens if you play with three seamers and two spinners, the third spinner being an all-rounder.

“Yes, there are a lot of questions we need to answer, and along the way in the three-four series we've played, we have found some answers. There will be a time where we will draw a line and say, 'this is the combination we want to play for the World Cup.' After this, we have two more series and then the World Cup. Till our squad is announced, we can try out a few players.”