Current Indian ODI team has played lesser matches together than 2011 winning side, says Aakash Chopra

New Delhi: Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that one major difference in the build-up of the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup as compared to the preparation undertaken by the 2011 tournament-winning team, has been the significantly lesser time of playing matches as a cohesive unit.

After the end of 2007 ODI World Cup and before the start of the 2011 edition, India had played 118 ODIs. With the 2023 World Cup being just over two months away, India have played just 57 matches after the end of the 2019 edition in England. Moreover, India has played 42 ODIs since the start of 2021, with 44 players being tried out, highlighting that a settled combination hasn’t been achieved yet.

“There is one significant difference in the build-ups of 2011 and 2023 World Cups, which is the amount of T20 cricket being played. I still remember we were very reluctant to play T20 cricket even after winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. It was then two different formats at the international level played by the team.

The ODI side then was playing so much cricket together that it was like a well-oiled machine. It was a fairly senior team, not necessarily in terms of age, but they had played a lot of cricket. I don’t recall anybody playing less than 50 ODIs before the World Cup actually started. Definitely not in the batting department, as well as in the bowling department too as the likes of Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra had played a lot of cricket by then.”

So, that stands out as a key difference in terms of how the build-up is right now. If KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are available, then it suddenly becomes a very different unit. But God forbid, if they are not there, then you are looking at somebody who’s got 20 ODIs under his belt playing for India,” said Chopra, an expert for JioCinema, in a select virtual media interaction.

“Moreover, we don’t know how much fit Jasprit Bumrah will be. So, that is a very key difference in that (2011) and this (2023) preparation. Just that the time played by this team together in the format is significantly lesser than the team which played in 2011,” he added.

In India’s recent 2-1 series win over West Indies, confusions were witnessed in their attempt to solve questions of who will bat at number four and five in the absence of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. After the 2019 World Cup ended, India have used 11 players at number four and 14 players at number five.

Against the West Indies, Suryakumar Yadav batted at number three before moving to six. Sanju Samson batted at number three before moving to four, while Axar Patel batted once at number four.

The 45-year-old Chopra feels the confused experiments show that India is trying to get players who could fit in these slots if Iyer and Rahul aren’t fit in time for the mega event on home soil.

“When you bring up 2019, you were preparing for Ambati Rayudu (at number four), but took in Vijay Shankar. KL Rahul, who batted in the middle-order, began to open after Shikhar Dhawan suffered an injury and Rishabh Pant was drafted in.

Here, I feel that the hands are tied because I was fairly critical of the team during the recently-concluded three-match series, where they had three different batters in three games on number three and four respectively and you start asking what exactly the team here is trying to do?

It gives a thought that whether Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul will be available or is that an insight towards these guys may not be available and therefore, the team is scrambling for options? The latter seems to be the case right now as you are running out of time and your people haven’t actually recovered from injuries,” the former India cricketer elaborated.

“In this case, you can’t blame anyone and it hasn’t happened by design. They are now clutching to the straws that whatever we have, we got to make the most of it, with a hope that the main guys will be fit, available and raring to go in a few weeks. I don’t blame team management at this point at all; not one bit because these players who are also your batters are injured and with them recovering, it throws your plans in a tizzy,” he added.

Amidst all the confusion, Shardul Thakur’s knack of picking wickets apart from delivering the goods with the bat occasionally means he is all but certain to seal a spot in the 15-member World Cup squad.

Since the 2019 edition ended, Thakur has been India’s best pacer, taking 52 wickets at an average of 28. But Chopra opined it won’t be easy for Thakur to play in all of India’s league games in the World Cup.

“That will be tough as if India were to play three fast-bowlers, then India will go ahead with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, with Ravindra Jadeja as the all-rounder. Plus, these are Indian conditions, so there is a good chance of going with three spinners and Hardik being the third pacer.

So, if India are going in with those combinations, then Shardul will find it tough to get into the playing eleven. But he’s done everything which he could have done and whatever he was asked to do. Therefore, I feel he deserves a place in the side as far as the World Cup team is concerned,” Chopra said.

“But making it to the World Cup playing eleven will be dependent on the workload management, opposition, pitch and strategies. Considering that, he could play a few games, as it may not be possible for him to feature in all nine league games,” he concluded.

–IANS