Cricket World Cup 2023 buildup: What India can learn from England, Australia and South Africa

Australia have announced their provisional World Cup squad. So have England. New Zealand have named a strong squad, sans one of their biggest match-winner, for an upcoming bilateral series. The big boys of world cricket, barring India, are looking settled in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup. Pakistan, on the other hand, have announced the squad for the Asia Cup.

In March, just before the start of the IPL, head coach Rahul Dravid said the team management had zeroed in on 17-18 players. Dravid said 3 bilateral series — against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Australia at the start of the World Cup year — have given them clarity about combinations and that India would look to zero in on the personnel in the coming months.

Cut to August, with only 12 days to go for the Asia Cup, India, as it seems from the outside, are still quite unsure of the composition of their squad. The deadline for naming the provisional squad is September 5 and India are hoping for a few fitness certificates to come through and for their premier fast bowler, who hasn’t played international cricket since September 2022, to pull through a 3-match T20I series in Ireland and prove his fitness.

MUDDLED BUILDUP

For all the talk about “processes” and not listening to “outside noise”, India, it is safe to say, have made a meal out of their buildup to the showpiece event, which returns to the home country for the first time in 12 years.

A glance at the squads of India’s star rivals at the World Cup speaks volumes of their all-round ability and depth. On the other hand, India have had a far-from-ideal run to the World Cup marred by injuries, dip in form and a lack of flexibility.

Shikhar Dhawan, one of India’s top 6 run-getters since the 2019 World Cup final, was discarded a year ahead of the World Cup. However, India have not been able to zero in on a left-hander at the top even though Ishan Kishan has done well in limited opportunities. KL Rahul, who was penciled in for the No. 5 spot, suffered an unfortunate injury during IPL 2023 and has not played since.

INJURIES AN EXCUSE?

When India finally found someone reliable at No. 4 in Shreyas Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain was out due to a recurring back injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He underwent surgery and has not played ever since.

Both Shreyas and Rahul are racing against time to be fit for the Asia Cup campaign, having played simulation matches at the National Cricket Academy. However, with lack of game time under their belt, it will be a big risk to pick them both in the squad.

India must keep in mind the mistake they committed in 2022 in terms of bringing KL Rahul back from an injury and slotting him directly into the Asia Cup squad. Rahul struggled to find fluency in the Asia Cup T20 and eventually failed at the World Cup.

As former head coach Ravi Shastri pointed out, it might too much to ask for even from the two players who are set to return to action after a long injury layoff.

As we discussed in the Sledging Room podcast, India are far from preparing for the worst-case scenarios which have been the halmark of World Cup winning teams in the past.

BACKUPS MISS OPPORTUNITIES

On the other hand, India’s backup options haven’t really put their hand up and delivered. Suryakumar Yadav, who was prepared for the middle-order role has played 26 ODIs since the last World Cup and has managed just 511 runs at an average of 24 per innings. In his last 17 innings, Suryakumar has not hit a fifty-plus score.

Sanju Samson’s case has been strange. He has been a victim of mixing formats as he has not got consistent opportunities despite averaging 55 in 13 matches since his debut in ODIs in 2021.

Two of India’s biggest match-winners in ODIs, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have had far from ideal run to the major tournaments. The big scores from the bats of Rohit and Kohli have not come at the big stages or against high-quality oppositions.

The instability in the batting front has had a ripple effect on the bowling combination as well. India have shown the tendency to beef up their batting order by playing the extra all-rounder at the cost of a match-winner like Yuzvendra Chahal, who warmed the benches in the recently-concluded ODI series in the West Indies.

ENVIOUS RIVALS GETTING IT RIGHT

On the other hand, defending champions England took the bold call to drop a certain Harry Brook, who was making waves in international cricket. Although he has played only 3 ODIs so far, Brook’s sensational start to his Test career and his exploits in T20 cricket made him a tempting prospect for the World Cup in India where he played IPL 2023 with SunRisers Hyderabad.

England were not desperate to rush their premier pacer, Jofra Archer, back from the injury. Likewise, New Zealand have given enough hints that they would not rush Kane Williamson back from the injury he picked up during IPL 2023.

England had the luxury to go for Ben Stokes, who came out of retirement, to put himself in contention for a World Cup berth. Stokes has not set the stage on fire in ODIs but his ability to step up at the biggest of the stages, as seen in the World Cup 4 years ago and in the T20 World Cup last year, made the English selectors to look in his direction.

Despite making the bold call, England look like a power-packed unit with as many a 5 high-quality all-round options in Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and David Willey.

Australia, on the other hand, went ahead and dropped Marnus Labuschange who played 30 ODIs, the third most for Australia since the last World Cup. It was a big call but Australia had enough firepower to accommodate a debutant all-rounder and a rookie leg-spinner in their provisional squad.

South Africa, much like England, have filled their squad with all-rounders and look like one of the best-balanced ODI sides on paper with plenty of firepower in all 3 departments.

FIREPOWER-RICH SQUADS

England provisional World Cup squad

Batters; Joe Root, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan
All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Woakes
Wicketkeeper: Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow
Bowlers: Reece Topley, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

Australia provisional World Cup squad

Batters: David Warner, Steve Smith, Travis Head
All-rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott
Wicketkeepers; Alex Carey, Josh Inglis
Bowlers: Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Tanveer Sangha, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

South Africa squad for England ODIs

Batters: Temba Bavuma, Dewald Brevis, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen
All-rounders: Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell
Wicketkeeper: Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Sisanda Magala, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj

India might still go on to do wonders at the home World Cup but questions have to be asked of the disastrous buildup to the premier cricketing extravaganza. Pointing fingers at injury (mis) management and inability to find a Yuvraj Singh-like middle-order batter despite having had 7 years in hand is not reflective of the mentality of a winning side.