India's finisher conundrum in ODIs: Who are the players that can take over the job?

Kedar Jadhav, a talented player

Jadhav does have a great List A record

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

Manish Pandey celebrates his century for India

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?