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India have been arguably the best ODI team over the last three years. Since the start of 2022, they have 43 wins, 17 losses, one tie and three no-results. Their win-loss ratio of 2.529 is the best for any team.
The Rohit Sharma-led side were absolutely magnificent in the 2023 World Cup as well where they won every game barring the final. A similar squad is heading into the 2025 Champions Trophy.
However, India seem to be experimenting ahead of the big event. They had a settled top six which comprised of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. But they are tinkering with that.
With Yashasvi Jaiswal’s presence, they were ready to drop Iyer from the XI. He made No. 4 his own and has been supremely consistent in the 50-over format. But Kohli’s knee niggle in the first ODI against England opened the door for Iyer who played a match-winning knock.
But if Kohli was fit, would Gill have batted at No. 4, or would Kohli have dropped the order? The second ODI saw India revert to their usual top four. But KL Rahul hasn’t batted at his regular No. 5 spot since the 2023 World Cup. But Axar Patel has been promoted to No. 5 in both games against England. Arshdeep Singh who is India’s premier T20I bowler and has a good 50-over record hasn’t got consistent chances in the ODI team.
Thus, Zaheer Khan believes that having too much flexibility could be an issue as well. Communication is vital else there could be insecurity which might hurt the team.
“You’ve said that you’ve got to have the flexibility. Number one and two will be there but the others are going to be flexible. Within that flexibility, some rules also apply. There are certain protocols you have to follow. Certain communication needs to happen, which is gonna streamline things. Otherwise, you are creating insecurity, which, at some stage, will come back and hurt you. You don’t want it to be the case. So, you’ve got to be prepared to deal with that situation,” Zaheer Khan was quoted saying on Cricbuzz Live.
Recency bias is something very strong right now: Zaheer Khan
The former India left-arm pacer feels that there is a lot of recency bias in the side at the moment. The addition of Varun Chakravarthy is a prime example. Zaheer didn’t say it was right or wrong but he wants the entire system to be streamlined properly.
“That’s why I said recency bias is something very strong right now. The situation has become dynamic if you have to compare Rahul Dravid’s approach and Gautam Gambhir’s approach. You can say it’s good, bad or ugly, or you can say how do we adapt. Each individual is a part of this system, be it the senior management or the think tank, be it the players, be it the selectors. They will have to gauge it, and the entire system needs to be streamlined for the wheel to turn properly,” Zaheer added.
India face England in the third ODI on the 12th of February in Ahmedabad before they fly out to Dubai for the Champions Trophy. Their first game is against Bangladesh on the 20th of February.
