India's uncertain road to T20 WC

Bengaluru: Here we go again. The Indian management is confused, again. It's obviously attempting to mollify the situation by being consciously vague. But, it has been using these archaic diversion tactics for too long for the truth to lay hidden. 

Why then use it, you ask? Well, because it doesn’t know any better. Also, ‘better’ would involve transparency and vulnerability. As we know by now, these factors are not its forte.

Even as these embarrassing, poor-man’s Machiavellian strategies reveal themselves on an everyday basis, it becomes painfully clear that the Indian team is not prepared for its next big assignment: the T20 World Cup. 

It’s in fine shape for the five-match Test series against England. Its desire to win an ICC event, however, is most likely going to remain just that: a desire. Actually, at this point, it’s just a desperate dream. 

The same can be said about the 50-over World Cup, which they let slip on the final day of the tournament against Australia. This is a bit different though.  

For one, we’re a few months away from the start of the tournament so we can’t for certain predict the trajectory one way or the other. Secondly, the One-Day International team had identified its core personnel to build around.  

The clarity in combination was achieved later than they would have liked, but it eventually manifested a ten-game winning streak. It was excellence irrespective of the end result. And so, the delayed nature of coherence was forgotten, forgiven even. 

In this case, they have chosen to complicate the matter by their own volition. Obviously, they’re saying they haven’t. But, the fact that Indian coach Rahul Dravid announced that they would hinge on the upcoming Indian Premier League to decide the team which travels to the United States of America and the West Indies, reveals enough. 

“In general, we have a decent sized (WC probables) pool and it involves guys who have been playing in the past 5-6 months who are in the mix,” he said after India scrapped past Afghanistan in the series-ending T20I in Bengaluru. “Obviously, there are some guys who are firmed up and we have got a fair idea of the kind of balance in the squad we are looking at.”

But?

“…there is always an opportunity for some other guys as well to put their hand up and be counted. That’s really up to the selectors then to see what kind of balance that we take. It’s hard to answer that question because it really depends on each and every case, individual and the role we are looking for. We have got a fairly decent idea but obviously, there will be spots available over the course of the next few months.”

So, what Dravid is actually saying is that he’s about as in the dark about the team as the management is.

For starters, India announced that the three-match series against Afghanistan would provide the perfect platform to try out combinations and give young talent a chance. 

Right. They expressed it by including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the playing XI!   

Let’s face it, for all their greatness, they are past their sell-by date in the shortest format. A century from Rohit doesn't undo the fact that he didn't trust himself with running between the wickets during the Super Over. 

Also, their inclusion meant actual young talent such as Shubman Gill and Tilak Verma didn’t get a proper run. Basically, they will have to rely on their exploits in the IPL to bolster their case. 

The same pedantic drama will continue to expose itself when it comes to ’keepers because the Indian team has a laundry list of them who are good, and Dravid says everyone is in the mix. Last count, there are five of them who can both ’keep well and bat well! 

Perhaps the Indian management has forgotten that the Board of Control for Cricket in India devised the IPL to become a conveyor belt of T20 talent. It was not intended to be a selection tool, a criteria. That’s not the role that a franchise-based league should assume.

It has done that in the past in the case of the likes of Dinesh Karthik and so on, but should it?

In any case, if you present this question to the management, you’re going to get an answer so vague, you may as well wait to see what the future holds. But it's plenty obvious that critical mass has been achieved. Now, to see what we get out of it.