India's Asia cup victory and build up to world cup 2023 campaign
Asia Cup 2023 has been concluded and the team is gearing up for the upcoming three-match series against Australia on home soil. A few questions are creeping up around the necessity of this series from this current standpoint and whether it is going to take a toll on players after such a draining Asia Cup campaign. India has announced their team for this three-match series. Quite a few interesting changes can be perceived for sure. Before delving into it further, let's talk about the team first.
India squad for first two ODIs,
KL Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, J Bumrah, M Siraj, M Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar
India squad for third ODI,
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, J Bumrah, M Siraj, M Shami, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (subject to fitness), R Ashwin, Washington Sundar
It is now interesting to see how selectors utilize Bumrah during these three matches. It is important to give him match practice one hand for his physical conditioning since he is coming back from a long break due to injury. On the other hand, it is important to keep him mentally and physically fresh for the ultimate price. The same can be said for KL Rahul, although he has come back well after the long layoff and looked good during the Asia Cup campaign.
What could be the focus areas for Team India during this three matches,
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ld be the focus areas for Team India during these three matches, India could conquer the no.1 spot in ICC ODI Team Ranking if they even win a single match in this series. That could be a big moral booster for the team.
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Good opportunity to assess and focus on key players from the Australian team, since they are one of the hot favourites in this campaign.
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India has limited left-hander batters in the team, so there are chances where the team will require service from Ravindra Jadeja to play the role of a floater against the likes of Adam Zampa or Ish Shodi to negate leg spin during the campaign. So he needs to regain confidence in his batting abilities.
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India will look to give more match practices to players like Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, and R Ashwin/Washington Sundar. Which can become pivotal if something unforeseen happens.
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Before the World Cup Indian batters should be getting an excellent opportunity to face a quality left-arm fast bowler (in the presence of Mitchel Starc) to work on their technical flaws (if any). In crucial matches like the 2019 WC semi-final or 2021 T20 WC match against Pakistan such Left Arm Seamers troubled our batting lineup a lot.
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Overall it is a good opportunity for the players to align themselves more mentally, with home conditions against a quality cricketing side before the main event starts.
Cautious approach
The main goal for this series would be to give game time to players who will be on the bench during the initial phase of the World Cup. To win a trophy like this every player from the squad of 15 is going to be important and could be getting opportunities at different phases of the tournament. India's playing 11 is almost set, so it is important to take care of the players since the weather in these venues will be treacherous at this point. We can expect high temperatures with high humidity during this series, so fatigue and injury need to be avoided at any cost.
Conclusion
Players like SKY, Shreyas Iyer, and Shardul Thakur will be monitored closely during this series. So this is one last opportunity for them to impress the team management before the tournament starts. India will look to win the first match and the series to secure the no.1 rank across all formats (T20, ODI, Test).