India’s team combination for the semi-final is baffling, really baffling

During the business end of the tournament, tinkering with the combination is not always a wise thing to do. After India’s defeat against England, quite a few changes were made to the playing XI in the two encounters that followed, against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Results did go India’s way in both the matches, but the question is – does that mean it is the way to go forward?

Coming to the high-voltage encounter against New Zealand, India opted to go with Dinesh Karthik’s experience in the middle-order as Kedar Jadhav continued to warm the bench, while Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar retained their place. Kuldeep Yadav made way for Yuzvendra Chahal whereas Mohammmed Shami continued to carry drinks despite being prolific with the ball. 

Let’s break this down a bit. Kedar’s ouster meant India didn’t have the cushion of an effective sixth bowler, let alone the stability he brings in the middle-order. Though he hasn’t bowled as many overs in the tournament so far, the psychological advantage is always there. His only failure with the bat came against West Indies and the lack of intent he showed in the death overs against England raised questions too. Suddenly, Kedar’s spot came under scrutiny and was eventually axed in the game against Bangladesh.

Once considered a certainty, Kedar was now swimming in troubled waters but did he do anything that erratic to be dropped? Well, the answer to that would be no. In saying so, no question is being raised on Dinesh Karthik’s ability but Kedar has been groomed for a while to fulfil a certain role in the middle-order and has done reasonably well to retain his spot, and his exclusion from a big game like a semi-final is certainly baffling. To add to his good fortune, Kedar also boasts an intimidating bowling record against the Kiwis.  

Shami leaked runs but he made up for it by bagging wickets in heap and his tally of 14 scalps in four games is a testament to it. More importantly, he provides the much-needed wicket taking option and has looked in good rhythm of late. Though Bhuvneshwar’s inclusion in the playing XI could be to strengthen the tail, there is no logical explanation behind Shami’s omission. Also, India cannot afford to have both Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar at the same time that just takes away the wicket taking option. 

Though Bhuvneshwar has bowled well in this tournament, he hasn’t been picking enough wickets, while everything Shami touched has turned into gold - picking 14 wickets in 4 matches. If the logic behind playing Bhuvneshwar is to strengthen the tail, then Kuldeep should have played ahead of Jadeja. Even if they wanted to stick with the Saurashtra all-rounder, then getting Shami on board ahead of Bhuvneshwar would have made all the sense in the world.

One shouldn’t forget, Kuldeep was very effective against New Zealand in the last bilateral series between the two sides. He bagged four wickets apiece in the first two games after which he went wicketless in next two. But India had only posted a modest total of 92 in Kuldeep’s fourth game and hardly had any runs to battle for. The counter-argument to this would be the chinaman’s ordinary form, but he is a match-winner and needs to be invested in order to reap fruitful results. 

India’s bowling did reasonably well in this encounter but there was a point when India needed wickets, which was difficult to come by. If India continue this chop and change strategy, it will only create a sense of insecurity in the minds of few players and further hamper their performance. India may or may not pull this one off, but the baffling selection strategy cannot be overlooked. Both Shami and Kedar did nothing wrong to be replaced during the business end of the tournament, and the axing of the duo along with Kuldeep at the same time hardly makes sense.