TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: One of India’s biggest concerns in the run-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup was their inability to bat in the middle overs. Between over 20 and 35, where teams often look to combine before they start to kill, success comes slowly.This trend has been reflected in recent competitions. Against Australia, India managed just four wickets in three matches, while New Zealand again exposed the issue, as India went wicketless between the Rajkot and Indore ODIs, which they lost. South Africa also presented a bright picture Kuldeep YadavHarshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna combined for nine wickets in three matches.The Afghanistan series continued to have mixed returns. India took five wickets in the rain-shortened Dharamsala ODI and another five in Lucknow, but managed just one wicket in the middle in Chennai despite dominating the contest.Interestingly, the team management seems to have lost faith in left-arm bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who has been a real wicket-taker for India between the overs. Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill they will need to find a solution.Captain Gill believes the answer lies in India’s tall bowlers: Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who he reckons can create chances even with little help.“Honestly, the combination with the type of bowlers we are trying to play is part of what we are building. We want to create as many opportunities as possible,” Gill told reporters after India sealed a 3-0 win over Afghanistan.“In the middle order itself, we have seen that when the ball is a little bit bigger on a good wicket, with only four players outside the field, batting is very easy. That is why we are trying to play bowlers like Prasidh and Harshit. They are tall, fast bowlers who give us the difference.“At the same time, it is important that we give someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy enough overs in the middle, even though we know there could be better ways to get us wickets. It’s important for players like him to have confidence in the World Cup,” added Gill.Gill said India’s young fast bowlers are being trained to adapt to different pitches by identifying the right height as quickly as possible. On red clay wickets, they want to be able to fill the bowl, while black clay pitches require a slightly shorter length.The emphasis, he said, is to hit consistently on the top stump, around fourth base – a very difficult line for batsmen to join. India also want their pacers to use their natural bounce to continue creating wickets, even if it sometimes results in extra runs.“Ndizokhudza kuwunika mawiketi. Mawiketi osiyana amafuna kutalika kosiyana. Pa wicket ngati iyi, muyenera kudzaza pang’ono, pamene pa wicket ya dothi lakuda, mungafunike kupukuta pang’ono. Monga gulu la bowling, zomwe tikuyesera kuchita ndikuwunika momwe zinthu zilili mwamsanga ndipo nthawi zonse mumagunda pamwamba-of—————stump molimba kwambiri, ” adatero.“At the same time, we want to continue to use the bounce. It also gives the batsmen a chance, but it also gives us a chance to take wickets.”Gill seemed very happy with the Indian pace quartet’s performance in the series. It was a list of the likes of Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav, and the operator saw it as an encouraging sign.
“It’s very encouraging. It’s a good sign for Indian cricket that we can continue to produce fast bowlers who regularly score 140-plus runs,” said Gill, who was named Player of the Series.“We have a lot of fast bowlers who can hit the right spots and create chances with the old ball, even if there isn’t much support from the wicket or the conditions.”Among the fastest bowlers, Gurnoor Brar is perhaps the most featured in this list. The six-foot all-rounder picked up seven wickets in three matches, bowled at high speed and produced a good delivery from the top. But Gill feels that Brar has a lot to learn going forward and is hopeful that the 26-year-old pacer will only grow in confidence from here.“I think he ticked a lot of boxes. There are some things that just come with experience, and I hope he continues to grow as a pitcher.“If I have to be a real critic, he conceded a few times and sometimes he was a little inconsistent. But he’s young, he’s playing his first series at a very high level, and he’s running fast. He has all the qualities that we want in a young guy, tall and fast, and he has experience,” said Gill.Prasidh Krishna, another tall bowler, blasted Afghanistan off the pitch with a bit of pace in Chennai, producing a one-hit show to claim his maiden five ODI caps.“What he has brought to the table is that we saw that there was a good bounce in the wicket early on and the ball was moving a bit,” Gill said in praise of his Gujarat Titans team-mate.“If he continues to hit those areas consistently, he can create more opportunities for us as a bowler. If he continues to do so, it will be good for the team. “Gill said that India are keeping their fast track plans instead of sharing positions. I am Jasprit Bumrah expected to return to England, he said that Bumrah could take the new ball, while Prasidh Krishna could do so if needed.“It’s about flexibility. There’s no one fixed part,” Gill said.The director added that the management is encouraging the bowlers to get used to different combinations and bowl more strongly.“We are trying to combine different things, and we encourage our players to give everything regardless of whether they are playing new football or the first change,” he said.“We have talked about giving bowlers like Prasidh and Gurnoor short overs of three to four overs and asking them to bowl their hearts out as fast as they can.”Whether the experiment will be successful will only be known closer to the World Cup, but India’s direction is clear. Instead of relying on arm spin for average hits, management is investing in a battery of fastball players who can pop out, hit hard and force errors even in slow pitches. If Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana continue to develop, India could go into the World Cup with a very different plan in the middle.
