Cricket: Bowling looks good but...

For what is really a very short tournament, India's selectors have chosen not to stir the pot and let things simmer gently for a little longer.

Indian Premier League performances, therefore, have counted for little in selecting the team for the Champions Trophy, and to be honest, there is much to commend that decision even if a 50 over game increasingly looks like a long 20 over game.

The batsman's mindset in a 20 over game is to go for it at the first opportunity even if the risk is substantial.

A 50-50 shot is almost always on even early in the innings.

And so, the positions they create for themselves, the near baseball style wind-up are all high risk.

The foot moves away from the ball for example where with a bit more time, it might make its more normal movement towards where it has landed.

More important, it isn't quite calamitous if you get out because if you get seven or eight good innings out of fourteen, you've done pretty well.

In 50 over cricket, while you still retain the aggressive mindset, the price on your wicket is much higher and so the assessment of risk is very different.

You know too that a good bowler, if in the middle of a really good spell, can come at you for five or even six overs whereas in T20 he is almost certain to be taken off after two.

And comebacks are on.

You might be 20 from 40 balls and still play a defining innings.

In T20 the same run-rate would more or less guarantee defeat.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's IPL strike rate therefore, or the starts Shikhar Dhawan had in the first few games aren't as much of an issue because the ability to produce a longer innings is a superior factor.

Hence, the more predictable line-up.

Of greater concern though is the ability to adapt to early summer conditions in England and while recent indicators suggest high scoring matches are likely to be the norm, you need batsman in good form to handle the more demanding conditions.

The IPL throws up no proof of that.

I suspect there is a little concern in the minds of the selectors because they have chosen one batsman more than they otherwise might have.

You back your first choice batsmen for a couple of games anyway, you have one in reserve if required, and if you qualify, it means you have done all right.

I would have thought an extra spinner, especially an unusual one like Kuldeep Yadav, would have been handy and would have allowed the captain more flexibility with his bowling. He befuddled a lot of quality batsmen in the IPL, and even given that they were in attack mode rather than in a more passive wait-and-see mode, it was mighty impressive.

Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja are tested, and dare I say reliable, but having Yadav around would have been an insurance in case either of those looked ineffective.

From an India perspective, it would have been nice if Rohit Sharma had opened the batting for the Mumbai Indians and if Ajinkya Rahane had strung together longer innings but both have enough experience to be able to adapt.

The test though will be for Kedar Jadhav who was exceptional in the one-dayers against England but who couldn't quite play similar match-winning innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The bowling, if anything, looks more encouraging with Bhuvaneshwar, Umesh Yadav and Jaspreet Bumrah looking in good rhythm.

It is almost certain that all three will play, with Hardik Pandya the extra option if conditions are really seam-friendly.

Virat Kohli needs to be convinced though that Pandya can give him 10 overs because while Jadhav and Yuvraj might be good back-up bowlers in Indian conditions, they may not offer much in early summer English conditions.

I suspect India will go in with six batsman, two spinners and three quicks with Ashwin and Jadeja swapping no 7 and 8 depending on how many overs are left.

It would have been nice to have had a few more overs from Mohd Shami and the fact that he wasn't always the preferred option at the end of the innings for Delhi Daredevils might suggest that he isn't yet at peak form and so will probably play the reserve bowler's role.

He hasn't had a lot of one-day cricket recently, neither for that matter, has Ashwin, and he tends to get better the more he bowls.

There isn't a lot of time for that between now and the start of the Champions Trophy.

The preference for the status quo means that Robin Uthappa has to produce more in the domestic season for another look-in and the fact that Rishabh Pant is the back-up keeper means he needs to break the door down in a sector that has a lot of competition.

And clearly the selectors want to see a lot more of Basil Thampi who has probably emerged as the next cab off the rank.

I don't believe India start favourites, South Africa and England probably do, but once you get to the semi-final you are a couple of performances away from winning.

And this team must fancy its chances to get to the semi-final.

tabla@sph.com.sg