Asia Cup 2018: India’s most balanced line-up 

The team management and the selectors need to use every ODI the team plays in the next few months to understand the best combination for the World Cup. They would want to settle on a combination well before the major tournament, and not be tinkering with the lineup during the warm-up games.

On many occasions in the past, Team India has gone into major tournaments with a heavy batting lineup because of the dearth of quality bowlers. That is not the case anymore and the correct balance between batsmen, bowlers, and all-rounders needs to be found.

The on-going Asia Cup could be the start of the test run to tinker with and find the right balance before the World Cup. With the squad currently selected, the best combination is discussed below:

The Openers

The opening combination will be the tried and tested right-left combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. Both have points to prove and will be hungry for runs. Rohit was axed from the Test squad and would be keen to show the selectors what the Indian batting lineup missed in England.

He had even taken to social media to express his disappointment over the exclusion. However, he also has the extra responsibility of captaining the side, and it will be interesting to see whether he tempers his batting accordingly or bats with his characteristic flair and flamboyance.

Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, is coming into the tournament on the back of a nightmare series. He would want to bury the memories under a mountain of runs.

The Middle Order

With the right-left combination at the top of the order, we then move into the middle order, where there are only right-handers to choose from. Let us start with the obvious selections. MS Dhoni and KL Rahul will definitely occupy two of these slots. MS Dhoni has expressed his desire to play higher up the order and will probably slot in at 4.

KL Rahul could come in either at 3 or at 5. One-drop would be a more logical choice as he can face the new ball if one of the openers get out early. However, he could be a good fit at 5 also, given the fact that he can start hitting from ball one. This license to hit could actually bring out the best in him.

Competing for the last two middle-order slots would be Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey. Kedar Jadhav would have the edge over the others because of the extra bowling option he provides to the captain. His low-arm, skiddy action has deceived a number of batsmen in the past.

Dinesh Karthik has a proven track record and possesses nerves of steel, an attribute that is very much required for the finisher’s role. The final over of the Nidahas Trophy comes to mind, in which he scripted a memorable victory from what seemed to be a hopeless position.

However, Ambati Rayudu has put in some stellar performances this year in white-ball cricket, and it would be very tough to overlook him. It would be a toss-up between Rayudu and Karthik for the final slot.

The All-rounder

Hardik Pandya is yet to live up to this tag, but his hitting prowess lower down the order in white-ball cricket is invaluable to the ODI team. However, he will be low on confidence after the Test series, and like Shikhar Dhawan, would want to bury those memories with a strong showing in the Asia Cup.

The Bowlers

Unfortunately, there does not seem too much competition for the bowling spots in this squad. The tracks are expected to turn, and two spinners will be the way to go. The wrist-spinning twins, Chahal and Kuldeep, should retain their places. As for the quicks, Bhuvi and Bumrah are arguably two of the best death bowlers in world cricket currently and are automatic selections.

To summarize, the team could line-up as follows:

1) Rohit Sharma (C)

2) Shikhar Dhawan

3) KL Rahul

4) MS Dhoni (WK)

5) Ambati Rayudu / Dinesh Karthik

6) Kedar Jadhav

7) Hardik Pandya

8) Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

9) Yuzvendra Chahal

10) Kuldeep Yadav

11) Jasprit Bumrah