Importance of bench strength

[Gollum]

This is the problem with pinning all hopes on select individuals. Our TM had made up its mind a long time ago that all batting plans had to be centered around Dhawan/Sharma/Kohli. Not only did it weaken our middle order (less batting time, less spotlight, weak candidates), we had no contingency plan to firefight post a worst case scenario. Now Dhawan is out and we have Rahul who has played a mere 16 ODIs and only 3-4 times as opener, assumed that role last match after 3 long years. What was the need of our top 3 to play every damn match the last 4 years with no break? Brand endorsements, personal stats? Criminal to not test a reserve opener and reserve number 3 all the while. The few times they did opt, they went with Rahane (eg WI 2017) who did his usual business at 60 SR only to be met with plaudits by usual suspects. They had close to 100 matches, by rotating the openers the likes of KLR/Mayank/Shah could have each played min 15 ODIs (each)....similarly the likes of Pant, Iyer and Gill at #3 as possible back up for Kohli. But no, player rotation and testing the bench are alien concepts in Indian cricket, polar opposite of what happens in Australian team.  

 

Rahul played exceptionally well against Pak, he has the ability no doubt but where is the experience? He is yet to master the perfect tempo for this format, strike rotation is a concern, communication with batting partner is a work in progress....these things take time to develop, nobody is born with these attributes, not even the ATGs. With more ODIs alongside the seasoned Dhawan/Sharma surely he would have developed a better rapport with them, learnt to complement, imbibed the finer art of when to press the accelerator and when to slow down, how to bat big etc. Now he has to learn all this on the go in the marquee event, a single misstep and he will be scrutinized ruthlessly, pressure won't help. 

 

Similarly the fast bowling department. Did TM have anyone in mind apart from Bumrah/Bhuvi....Shami came to the scene much later and had to get a MOTS in NZ to throw his gauntlet in the ring. Knowing that the WC was to take place in England, was TM seriously putting all the onus on 2-3 quicks? And when they tested other candidates, invariably we had the likes of Kaul, Unadkat, Dhawal etc...proper trundlers and extremely 1D. Should Saini not have been initiated earlier? Why was Ishant 2.0 never considered? Chahar would have been a better option to try out courtesy his swing bowling and okayish ability with the bat (nearest replacement of Bhuvi). 

 

We are on thin ice at the moment, we may still manage but why this unwanted stress? The only area where we have all bases covered is spin department. As the age old adage goes, a team is only as strong as its bench....a real pity we ignored this fundamental truth about team sports. Abhi apne bewakoofi ka fal bhugto. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Gollum

[zen]

The issue is that even against weaker teams/bilaterals, Ind dis not promote others to play in the top 3 to develop their game 

 

With Dhawan out, the three most experienced batsmen will have to put their hand up 

 

 

 

 

 

[maniac]

India  has a magnificent bench strength and even though could have been managed better we are not the worst. We have guys like Shaw,Pant,Aggarwal and Gill on the bench. 

 

Hate them all you want by guys like Rayudu,Pandey, Khaleel,Chahar,Umesh Yadav,Ishant  will easily make first X1s of 6-7 out of the 10 teams playing this wc

 

Our neighbors have picked a kid who bowled 150k in a couple of PsL games or hurry younger talent in when they are not even groomed properly.

 

Even though our bench management is not as good as England we are a distant 2nd but way ahead of no.3

[Gollum]

3 minutes ago, zen said:

The issue is that even against weaker teams/bilaterals, Ind dis not promote others to play in the top 3 to develop their game 

Exactly the point. This is what happens when a few individuals put their brand value and personal stats above team interests...@sandeep worst fears coming true now. 

[Gollum]

Just now, maniac said:

India  has a magnificent bench strength and even though could have been managed better we are not the worst. We have guys like Shaw,Pant,Aggarwal and Gill on the bench. 

Merely potential doesn't count. It becomes a strength only with experience, you can have 20 year old Sachins, Laras, Bonds and Kapils in the wings...but unless they get requisite game time how does that translate to 'strength'? And unless you try them out and tinker with the playing XI combination how would you know where to fit whom when the need arises? 

[sandeep]

52 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Exactly the point. This is what happens when a few individuals put their brand value and personal stats above team interests...@sandeep worst fears coming true now. 

Don't want to beat a dead horse, have been saying it for years now.  Other teams lack talented players, Indian team has the luxury of a deep pool.  There was every reason to give KL a few ODIs as opener over the last 20 months,  would have been so helpful right now. 

 

If it were up to me, Rishabh Pant would have already opened in ODIs at least 4-5 times by now. 

[Jimmy Cliff]

We wasted nearly 50 innings on Rayudu/Rahane/Yuvraj/Pandey/Raina post CT 2017 only to not pick them for the WC. These chances could have gone to KLR and Pant .

[Gollum]

6 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

We wasted nearly 50 innings on Rayudu/Rahane/Yuvraj/Pandey/Raina post CT 2017 only to not pick them for the WC. These chances could have gone to KLR and Pant .

More than 50 I think . 

[sandeep]

14 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

We wasted nearly 50 innings on Rayudu/Rahane/Yuvraj/Pandey/Raina post CT 2017 only to not pick them for the WC. These chances could have gone to KLR and Pant .

Well Yuvraj feels differently. 

[Jimmy Cliff]

40 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Well Yuvraj feels differently. 

As does Yograj . 

[mani sha]

Agreed . Rayudud and rahane are hopeless.

Good part is that at least pant is doing well and ishant 2 is ready . 

Regarding chahars- both rahul and deepak is ready . 

 

Anyways it’s going to be a shootout in semis and finals . We are ok ... most countries can only dream of benching pant ! 

[Mariyam]

On 6/19/2019 at 7:31 PM, Gollum said:

.......

We are on thin ice at the moment, we may still manage but why this unwanted stress? The only area where we have all bases covered is spin department. As the age old adage goes, a team is only as strong as its bench....a real pity we ignored this fundamental truth about team sports. Abhi apne bewakoofi ka fal bhugto. 

I have never heard this adage. I have a sneaking suspicion that you made this up as you were typing the rest of your otherwise great post.

 

Its not a good habit to eduriously make up tesdion stuff while shukily talking about pertinent topics.

[Stuge]

Credit goes to Captain and Cheerleader coach .They failed to develop younger talent something Ganguly was good at .

[Stan AF]

No point in crying over split milk now. At-least we will use the next 4 years to build the team for the next wc. 

 

The batting test of the team starts now with the absence of Dhawan and the pressure directly falls on Rohit now as top 3 is only top 2 with him and Kohli. Dhoni will have no choice but he will be batting bulk of the overs whether we like it or not. There will be scoreboard pressure on him. The question is where?? at 5 ot 6?.  Pandya will have to bat at #4, IMO. 

 

KL R, Vijay Shankar and Pant are basically rookies now. IN A Freakkin WC. 

 

Who will be our $5, #6 and 7???. Out of all tournaments to happen, the batting order is turned upside down 

in a WC. Curse our luck. 

 

Bowlers hopping injuries in England and missing games is just plain bad omen. Remember zaheer khan in 2011 and bhuvi the same culprit last year. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Stan AF

[Tattieboy]

1 hour ago, Mariyam said:

I have never heard this adage. I have a sneaking suspicion that you made this up as you were typing the rest of your otherwise great post.

 

Its not a good habit to eduriously make up tesdion stuff while shukily talking about pertinent topics.

It's more a football saying but is appropriate for all team sports .

It's the barometer that all English Premier League Managers view their teams 

[sandeep]

2 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

 but is appropriate for all team sports .

No its not.  Football relies heavily and consistently on substitutions from the bench during games.  Cricket does not. 

[Tattieboy]

4 minutes ago, sandeep said:

No its not.  Football relies heavily and consistently on substitutions from the bench during games.  Cricket does not. 

Wow I never knew there was substitutions in football and not in cricket . 

Shall we say squad  strength instead of sitting on the bench then . 

I know what Gollum means even if you try to be clever about it all 

[gakgupta]

I am not sure...what is this cribbing about..

I am following indian cricket for very long and I have never seen selector more flexible...

Only in the last 5 to 6 years, selectors are aggressive and making very transparent and brave decisions...

I am % sure Gill wouldn't have made his debut, if it was a different era...

Agarwal, Shaw, pant, khaleel Ahmed, Vihari, shankar, and more has made a debut in last year or so...

Yes, they should have moved on from players like Manish, Rayudu little sooner but those are touch and go decisions...

I am sure Rahul Chahar will be making a debut pretty soon...

I think selectors and management did a fair job identifying and grooming young talent... no wonder, we are not effected much after injury of 2 key players.

Sent from my Nokia 6.1 using Tapatalk

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, Tattieboy said:

Wow I never knew there was substitutions in football and not in cricket . 

Shall we say squad  strength instead of sitting on the bench then . 

I know what Gollum means even if you try to be clever about it all 

Bench strength is not that important in cricket, simple as.  Its not a question of "being clever".

[Tattieboy]

1 minute ago, sandeep said:

Bench strength is not that important in cricket, simple as.  Its not a question of "being clever".

Clearly it is and I give an Indian example to you .

Last year's tour to England you took 3 openers of which everyone knew at least one of them was not a Test opener and debated about other two . The bench strength of a country of your size came down to an 18yr old with one test match appearance despite  I think having about 28 Ranji Trophy teams .