With the new ODI rule of having five fielders inside the ring, the combination of five bowlers and six batsmen is going to be the way forward in the World Cup. The experts are saying that part-time bowlers may not play much of a role as their chances of getting hit are more than the regular bowlers.
The Indian team started of their World Cup preparation in its first match of the tri-series against Australia, with five bowlers, thus putting to rest the speculation that this team’s first choice isn’t seven batsmen and four bowlers.
This is a positive start for India but the question remains: how long can this team sustain five bowlers? For the time being, the team may have to continue with the five bowler formulae but in case it doesn’t work, an all-rounder in Stuart Binny could be tested. He could be the fifth bowler and seventh batsmen of the team.
The batsmen making the most of the situation is something we’re used to seeing as an audience, but the Indian bowlers having a ball at the expense of the batsmen of the opposing team is a novelty. This is the state of Indian bowling and Sunday’s match was no exception.
India may have lost the match, but some of the bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Axar Patel were spot on. Even off-spinner R Ashwin was good in patches, but he tried too many things. In the process, the Australians took the match away from India.
Thanks to Aaron Flinch and Steve Smith. In other words, the time has come for some of the Indian pacers to learn from Mitchell Starc who got six wickets in the match.
As far as the Indian batting, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina bailed India out of trouble in the initial part of the match. After losing Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli early, India needed a solid partnership in the middle to have a real contest with the Aussies.
Rohit wasn’t flashy as he generally is, curbed his instincts and pounced on deliveries that were loose. And expectedly, Raina didn’t look like the same batsman who had a terrible Test comeback a few days ago in Sydney.
The left handed was a lot more forthcoming in his stroke play. From here on, India would come back strongly in the next match against England to boost the morale of the side.
