India’s ODI World Cup campaign in 2019 was all about finding the number four batter.
It was like the longest running soap opera with no definite winners. Several claimants were auditioned for the role, but no one really took up the role when the tournament began. In the end India went in with a completely different plan of utilising Lokesh Rahul, then purely playing as an opener, as their number four batter.
As the tournament progressed in 2019, Rahul’s role kept changing; he moved from being a number four to being an opener as Shikhar Dhawan left mid-way due to an injury. Ultimately he ended the tournament as an opener and the result for India in the semi-final was a debacle.
A key teammate of Rahul in the 2019 World Cup squad, Ravindra Jadeja, was struggling to make it to the playing XI as India had a different approach to their bowling in the middle overs. India was playing their two leg-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. As a result, Jadeja, the all-rounder missed out due to issues of balance. In fact, Jadeja ended up playing just two games in that edition and played a part in that famous rearguard action in the semi-final alongside Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A lot has changed for both Rahul and Jadeja since the 2019 World Cup campaign. Their roles in the ODI XI have undergone a dramatic change and as senior performers they are expected to contribute a lot more than before.
Rahul is now designated number five in Indian ODI XI and Jadeja is a sure starter as an all-rounder in the line-up. At times Jadeja’s batting is a bigger factor in his selection than his bowling, similarly Rahul as a keeper is also a sure starter for the sake of balance.
At the start of 2023 ODI World Cup therefore it felt like these two gentlemen, alongside the usual suspects Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma, will have a big role if India was to emerge champion once again.
The start of the campaign on Sunday confirmed that all the predictions about Rahul and Jadeja were indeed true because both have started on the perfect note with top contributions against Australia.
Rahul has excelled behind the stumps since he has taken up the role first as a stop-gap arrangement back in January 2020 in ODIs and then has made the position his own with consistent performances in the middle-order. India’s think-tank, often vilified, for ‘experimenting’ a bit much in white ball cricket is finally seeing rewards for all the thought they put into making a perfect ODI XI.
Rahul with his immense experience now comes in at a perfect time in an ODI as he holds the batting together. His ability to take on the spinners on a pitch that helped as the one at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai did on Sunday, showed just why he is so valuable in the format.
Rahul is not Suryakumar Yadav who can turn the game on its head with his unorthodox approach, but in his own way he can take the game forward. He can surely play the big strokes and put the pressure back on the bowlers when required, but he can also play the waiting game. India required just that kind of batter in the middle-order back in 2019. They kept searching, but finally may have found him in 2023, four years after the event.
Rahul has been a default choice as a middle-order batter also because Rishabh Pant never made a place for himself in the ODI set-up. Hence the team management, first under Ravi Shastri and now under Rahul Dravid, had to turn to Rahul for assistance. Rahul has been only too happy to offer his services.
The biggest surprise though has been Rahul’s approach behind the stumps with the gloves. Just how much better he has become is a testament to the amount of effort he has put into getting better at his craft.
The way he kept India's spin trio on a turning track in Chennai on Sunday was an eye opener about how far Rahul has travelled in his journey as a ‘keeper. The fact that despite the presence of Ishan Kishan, Rahul took the gloves shows that it is now second nature for him to take his place behind the stumps. And to think that this role came by accident to Rahul three years ago!
On the other hand, Jadeja had been struggling till the 2019 ODI World Cup to seal his place in the ODI line-up. His bowling was deemed too restrictive for the format and had to be axed from the set-up first. It required injury to his key rival Axar Patel for Jadeja to make a return to the ODI set-up. Since then, Jadeja has battled injuries galore and has been under the knife a few times.
India has built the 2023 ODI World Cup campaign around Jadeja and he is expected to be a key figure if they must even harbour hopes of winning the tournament. Jadeja has sent out a strong message to everyone with his bowling in the first game which also turned out to be his best performance ever in a World Cup contest! What a turnaround for a man who was almost written off four years ago and now he is India’s best performer with the ball in the first game of the 2023 edition.
Jadeja knows the MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch as well as any local because he plays there every year during the Indian Premier League (IPL). Hence, he was able to fox the Aussie batsmen with his speeds and made the most of the timid approach they showed to deal with the turning ball. With the return of Ravichandran Ashwin, there is much less pressure on Jadeja to be the support cast for Kuldeep Yadav. Jadeja can now keep bowling his overs swiftly and pile up the pressure making it difficult for batters to score.
Jadeja’s batting will be another thing that will provide some hope for the think-tank. India’s lower-order will be tested and Jadeja will have to deliver when his turn comes.
While Jadeja bowled tightly, behind the stumps Rahul was equal to the task as the duo teamed up quite effectively. Rahul then sealed the issue with his calm approach with the bat. This after having kept under scorching sun for close to 50 overs!
In a way India’s two key all-rounders have performed in their first outing at the 2023 ODI World Cup thereby easing the pressure on the team think-tank. All the effort put in over the past two years to sculpt a possible ODI World Cup winning side is finally paying off, at least for now.
But this is just the start. There is a long way to go in the tournament and one blip on the radar will be hard to recover from for any team, let alone for the host, India!
Thankfully there is no reality show running on the sidelines of the campaign for India to get distracted by unlike in 2019. Hence the only thing worth fighting for is the big prize, the World Cup trophy!
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