THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If you form a playing XI of pure tailenders for the upcoming ODI World Cup, chances are four from India's squad will make it to that team.
While Jasprit Bumrah averages 7.30 and has a strike rate of 56.15 from the 23 ODI innings he has walked out to bat in, his tail-end partners also have similar numbers. Mohammed Siraj has an average of 6.16 and SR of 40.12 (13 innings), Mohammed Shami averages 8.40 with a SR of 85.71 (44 innings) and Kuldeep Yadav's average is 10 with a strike rate of 56.29 (34 innings). Assuming that only three of them will make it to India's playing XI in the tournament, the numbers of tailenders aren't awe-inspiring.
The Indian tail looks far inferior to the lower-order of other top contenders in the World Cup. Defending champions England are likely to have Chris Woakes at No. 8, and he averages 24.43 from 80 ODIs and has five half-centuries to his credit. England's likely No. 9 Adil Rashid has an average of 18.82 from 59 innings and a strike rate of close to 100. Inevitably, India's worrisome tail puts pressure on the top-order and India's allrounders.
While Hardik Pandya has been in sparkling form, the same cannot be said of Ravindra Jadeja, who averages 27 this year with the bat. India's bowling allrounders, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur, each have a half-century to their credit but average 16.14 and 17.31 with the bat respectively in ODIs.
On the eve of their World Cup warm-up tie against The tetherlands, Ashwin, Thakur and Kuldeep were having an extended batting session at the nets in St Xavier's College ground in Thumba after bowling for about 45 minutes.
"We are seeing scores of 350 in ODIs these days. Unfortunately for India, our bowlers don't bat. Kuldeep can defend, Bumrah, Siraj and Shami can just hit the ball but don't inspire much confidence. So one of your top-order batsmen needs to carry on till the end. Also, the role of the allrounders becomes extremely critical. Hardik, Jadeja, Ashwin or Thakur all have to perform well with the bat," former India off-spinner Venkatpathy Raju told TOI.
