What did we learn from India’s warm-up matches?

India have an anchor-heavy top-order? Not really

That India possess an outrageously talented batting line-up is something that has never been in question, but for the past 18 months or so, there has been the slight fear of the top-order being anchor heavy. Rohit and Kohli have always been anchors, but KL Rahul batting conservatively in IPL, after being made the Punjab Kings captain, invoked fright. It made one wonder whether India’s top-order would be one-dimensional, with all three batters aiming to bat deep.

Those fears can be put to bed now. For in the very first warm-up game, Rahul showed that he can begin in fifth gear if the situation demands. 

Rahul, against England, brought up his fifty off just 23 balls, and ended the powerplay with a SR of 235.7.  To put this number into context, in IPL 2021 he struck at 115.11 in overs 1-6.

Unburdened thanks to knowing that he does not need to bat deep, Rahul put the foot on the accelerator from ball one, and the result was truly devastating. That this knock came on the back of a similar outing against CSK (in Punjab's final group game) pretty much reaffirmed the fact that Rahul is someone who can seamlessly change his approach based on the team’s need.

And so India can breathe, not having to worry about an overload of anchors up top. 

Virat Kohli at No.3 is a cause for concern

It is no longer a secret that Virat Kohli struggles against spin. In the recently concluded season of IPL, he struck at just 100 against the slower bowlers, and in T20Is too, teams have consciously bombarded him with spin. In India’s last T20I series (against England), for instance, Kohli struck at only 71.88 against the spinners whilst being dismissed twice.

These are numbers that should bother India because with Rohit and Rahul confirmed to be opening, Kohli batting at No.3 will mean that he will, unlike in the IPL, predominantly be batting in the middle-overs. That in turn translates to him predominantly facing spin, his Achilles Heel in T20s across the past 18 months.

Against England in the first warm-up, walking to bat in the 9th over, the Indian skipper struggled. 10 of the 13 balls he faced were against spin, and rather unsurprisingly, after a mini-struggle, he perished to the part-time leg-spin of Liam Livingstone, who had him caught at backward point after a failed attempt to dance down the wicket. 

Kohli is someone who has always risen to the challenge on the big stage, especially in the shortest format, but taking two years of sample size into account, it is hard to brush aside his middle-over struggles.

As things stand, his form is quite a significant cause for concern.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar might have bowled himself out of the starting XI

Very rarely do teams make crucial selection calls based on warm-up match performances. But it is hard to look at the current version of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and think that he should be starting the clash against Pakistan on Sunday. 

On the back of his worst ever IPL season, Bhuvneshwar delivered two performances that inspired little confidence. For one he looked insipid, and did not claim any wickets in the powerplay, but more concerningly he turned out to be a liability at the death.

In IPL 2021 Bhuvneshwar leaked at nearly 11 runs per over at the death, averaging 80, and across the two warm-up games, the right-armer conceded 52 runs at the death off 4 overs despite Steve Smith doing him a big favor by playing four dot balls. There was no fizz or bite in his bowling, and Bhuvneshwar looked like a player seriously short on confidence.

Compare this to Mohammed Shami, who took a three-fer and looked like he belonged. 

The Bhuvneshwar that played in the two warm-up games looked unrecognizable from the Bhuvneshwar that tormented England at the start of the year. 

Perhaps India resting Shami against Australia was an indication that they genuinely see Bumrah-Shami (and not Bumrah-Bhuvi) as their first-choice pairing at the mega event. 

There is no compulsion on India’s part to pick a leg-spinner

Like Bhuvneshwar, Rahul Chahar - who also struggled in the UAE leg IPL 2021 - did no favors for himself through his showings in the two warm-up games. Chahar fared alright against Australia, finishing with 1/17 off his three, but had a night to forget against England, conceding 1/43 off four overs.

The leggie’s form, without a doubt, is concerning, but the two warm-up games have shown that India can field a more-than-competent attack without necessarily having to include a leg-spinner. 

Varun Chakravarthy - who was made to bowl at the death against Australia as an experiment - and Ravindra Jadeja are automatic starters, but Ravichandran Ashwin, across the two games, showed that he can co-exist with the rest despite being an off-spinner. 

Ashwin returned combined figures of 2/31 (off 6 overs) across the two warm-up games, but what was impressive was the contrast in his roles. 

Against England he bowled in the middle-overs as a defensive option, and did the job to perfection by maintaining his discipline and keeping the runs down (4-0-23-0), while against Australia he was used as an aggressive option in the powerplay. He thrived in the attacking role too, as he claimed two wickets in the only over he bowled in the powerplay, an over in which he turned into the Ashwin of Test cricket.  

The idea that a team needs to have a leg-spinner in order to be successful has been forcefully enforced so much in modern-day cricket, but maybe there is a case for India to not follow convention. And it won’t be a fatally flawed tactic by any means because after all, among the teams who reached the playoffs of IPL 2021, three sides - CSK, KKR and DC - bowled zero overs of leg-spin in the UAE leg. 

Whether India will opt for a 3-2 or 2-3 (seamer-spinner) combo remains to be seen, but both those structures can be implemented without having a wrist-spinner in the XI. 

Other observations

Hardik Pandya, despite finishing both the warm-up matches unbeaten, is a long way away from his best form. With him set to play as a specialist batsman, the possibility of Ishan Kishan possibly walking into the side (forcing Pant-Jadeja to operate as finishers) cannot be ruled out.

The absence of a sixth bowler could potentially haunt India. Kohli chipped-in with a couple of overs against Australia, but it would be silly to assume it to be a viable option in the Super 12 stage. One of the five specialist bowlers having an off-day could spell big trouble for the Men in Blue.