Till at least a year ago, when the likes of Australia, South Africa and England were hunting for players like Lance Klusener, Michael Bevan or Michael Hussey, whom the cricketing world calls as 'Finishers', the Indians were happily winning tight games with up to 15 runs to chase in the last overall thanks to their agricultural finisher and captain, MSD.
Now, Australia found a certain James Faulkner, New Zealand found Corey Anderson, England has the dynamic Jos Buttler and South Africa, David Miller (of course, ABD is the opener, finisher and tail-ender for them). Suddenly, India find themselves unable to win tight chases, like they used to before.
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Whether it is the waning prowess of their superhero MS Dhoni or the collective failure of their batting order is being debated in all nook and corner of the nation. Whatever the reason be, the fact remains that India are no longer guaranteed wins in tight chases in ODIs. After the recent mess up of a run chase in Rajkot against South Africa in the third match of the ODI series, Dhoni commented that India needed finishers to win these kind of games.
"We are looking for batsmen to play at Nos 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won’t know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it’s a tricky one." Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
So the question comes to whether India lack the firepower in the domestic circuit or if India already has finishers capable of doing a Dhoni-esque job at the fag of the innings. Looking into the current ODI squad for the New Zealand series and keeping aside Dhoni, there are very few players who can be called finishers. Of the lot, Suresh Raina, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Kedhar Jadhav are players capable of doing the job at 6-7 positions.
Raina, the heir to the throne
Suresh Raina, according to Dhoni, is the man to do the job, though has been found out against the short ball far too often, so much so that he accumulated a total of three runs in the ODI series against South Africa at an average of 1.00.
More worrying than the runs is the manner in which Raina was dismissed by the South Africans. Surely, the Indians haven't forgotten how Mitchell Johnson, similar to Morkel, roughed him up in the ODI series in India some time back. It has become worryingly easy for bowlers to control and dismiss Raina that his reputation as the next Dhoni is non-existent at the moment. He is pretty lucky to be back in the mix.
Lacklustre Binny
We now come to Stuart Binny who has done the hitting job somewhat decently for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. But has he molded himself into an international cricketer? That is up for debate. His 32 run over off Evin Lewis has seen him ousted from the ODI squad. He would need some solid domestic performances to get back into a tightly packed Indian squad.
Binny's List A record doesn't scream out either, in terms of numbers. Inspite of a strike rate above 90, he is yet to register a hundred and averages in the mid-20s. The Indian is not a first when it comes to being mediocre in international cricket after doing the job in domestic. Remember Mark Ramprakash?
Rayudu, a finisher?
Ambati Rayudu. The man Dhoni refused to give strike to in the final over of a tight run chase. True, he deserved more than that. But, is he a finisher? More of an accumulator I'd say. That said, the man certainly deserves a better run in the ODI side after some decent performances and has certainly got a raw deal from the selectors.
His ODI record thus far is pretty impressive with an average of 50.23 after 34 matches with two hundreds and 6 half centuries. A strike rate in the 70s seems to be the only criteria that could have kept him out of the squad, though it seems rather unfair.
That can wait, though. But finisher? Nope.
Axar Patel, not so promising
Axar Patel, despite doing a bit in the IPL hasn't provided enough evidence of his prowess with the willow to discuss if he is a tail-ender or finisher. A highest score of 17* in 15 innings does not justify the talent he possesses with the bat. His bowling has also been below par and it has to be said that he is a tad lucky that the selectors thought Ashwin and Jadeja needed a bit of a break.
His List A record is decent for a guy in the lower order. He strikes at a rate of 95.62 and has a highest score of 93. But until and unless he showcases some of that potential in this series against the Kiwis, Axar will find it hard pressed to return to the limited overs setup.
Kedar Jadhav, a talented player
Kedar Jadhav has been phenomenal for Delhi in the IPL and has more often than not played a vital role in the death overs. But he is no six-hitter and has never done a single-handed job at the death to be called a finisher material. That said, he has thoroughly earned his place in the squad.
Jadhav already has a hundred in 7 ODIs and averages 48.66. Importantly his List A record shows a strike rate of above 100 after 86 games and an average just below 50, exceptional for someone who bats in the lower middle order.
Hardik Pandya, the Afridi
Hardik Pandya has had huge domestic success with his big hitting and he gave evidence of that in his brief period in the T20I squad. But going by his T20 exploits of late in the IPL, he is a hit or miss kind of batsman with a good range of shots.
Though he seems like a decent bet to take over the reins, he has a long long way to go.
Having made his name in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition where he topped the run charts in 2015-16 with 377 runs at an average in excess of 50, Pandya's potential excited the selectors. But after 16 T20I matches his average stands at 11.14 though a terrific 31 in the Asia Cup augers well for him.
Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the India A finisher
We come to Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the man who came out of the blue into the rather closed group of ODI players India possesses. He does not have a fistful of stellar IPL performances to prove his credentials. What he has, though, is a strong domestic first class and List A record including some breathtaking finishing knocks in the Tri-Series between the A teams of India, South Africa and Australia.
Not to forget the 12 ball 29 he made to finish off a superb run chase for Kings XI Punjab against the Deccan Chargers in just his second IPL match. And ta-daa, he bowls part-time off-spin too. In fact, he possesses a 5 wicket haul in List A cricket. That domestic records in India don't count is debatable; Sir Jadeja's three triple hundreds stand as pillars in proof to this view.
But this player has something in him that races the BP of fans in the slog overs. Is he the man India is searching for? We will only know if he is a good enough bet when he plays. Its time to blood the youngster. Did I mention he is 26 already? If not now, when is his turn coming?
Suryakumar Yadav, the 360° man
Leaving the starting 11 and arriving at players who have not even been selected yet to the ODI squad, we see the options are not too sparse in the domestic circuit. We saw Suryakumar Yadav, the calm, composed Mumbai Ranji captain turn many heads with his innovative batting in the IPL for the Knight Riders in the death overs.
He really has a mix of the easiness of Rohit Sharma's batting and the 360° of AB's array of shots. His List A and T20 records are far from impressive, however, he has decent first class stats if records are anything to go by. His temperament is appreciable and given a chance, Yadav may surprise quite a few.
Mandeep Singh, the dark horse of RCB
And we come to the small man who shadowed De Villiers in a superb knock in the 2015 IPL, Mandeep Singh of the RCB. Finisher or not, this guy is a special talent and boy, he made a 150 in a One Dayer in 2009 in an under-19 tour to Australia.
So he can definitely handle a bit of bounce. And though I am not much of a stats man, I must say his records are pretty decent in limited overs cricket in the domestic arena. Thankfully, he finds himself in the mix against the Kiwis and would be a fantastic addition to India's batting line-up.
Manish Pandey, tried and successful
We come to the young Manish Pandey, who has been a revelation ever since becoming the first Indian batsman to score a 100 in the IPL. His temperament was evident in his debut ODI against Zimbabwe, where he came in at 82/4 and made 71 in a 144 run stand with Jadhav. In the tour to Australia, he was calm and composed while finishing off a game in Sydney, with a brilliant hundred. The win was India's lone bright spot in that ODI series.
Pandey averages in the late 30s in List A cricket with five hundreds. His stint with the Indian ODI squad has been jaw-dropping - an average of 92 and strike rate above 100 after 7 games means this young lad is here to stay.
Verdict
Surely India have enough options to try in the finisher role in these wonderful talents. While picking them in the 15 is a good start, the familiarity comes by giving an extended run. As Dhoni said, "Till they play there, we won’t know who is a good bet over there."
Selectors, are you hearing?
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