If India corrects its middle order it can get stronger than England. This is the main area India should work. If we had proper No.4 & No.5 we would have definitely had better chance in Semifinals. The second area where India should match England is batting depth (No.7 - Pandya should match the standards of England alrounders, and we cannot have absolute duds with bat at least at No.8 & No.9. With Jadeja now we have hope - I think he can play till next world cup with age also in his side and also we are playing in India, he can handle No.8, and even No.7 if he improves temperament he can be more handy than Pandya! In fact in the beginning of his career I felt he was good enough to bat at No.6 - the very beginning of his career where he was not that much of a bowler!) We need not match absolutely with England in everything! Just tighten some areas like this and then the better players we have (at least for Indian conditions) can take up that extra burden! (But not be so careless like we went with absolutely non-existent middle order)
India has to now start planning for next world cup! People may mock us that we are fit to win only in India, let whatever people say we should just concentrate on the job in hand, and not slip at it again! World Cup is World Cup anywhere (Can we mock England if they win at their home now? No isn't it? At least we won once in England! But England had to wait this long and win it at their home now! And then, can we mock NZ if they win for being lucky/fluke all along? Then why should people only mock Indian team whenever they win?) India have to start planning from now itself...
Rohit
Dhawan
Shaw
Kohli
Gill
Pant
Pandya
Jadeja
Kuldeep/Chahal
Bumrah
Shami/Other young fast bowlers
I think this team can definitely compete with England at least in SC conditions! (Lets keep things simple) India should move in this direction. (I know this team will undergo even more changes as we go along, but let's start with this! They should blood youngsters soon now! Shaw is an opener sure, but lets not wait till Rohit/Dhawan retires/phases out! Gill may prefer batting up in the order I know, but lets not wait for that also! This is the same mistake we did for current world cup! Blood them now itself, then they will not be adamant about their batting positions (like Rahul), let them learn it tough way! They will eventually bat higher later on!
Kohli should move down to No.4, that automatically gives solidity to the team and also it will help Kohli who is getting accusations of bottling in Knockouts - he has some issues with new ball - if he gets exposed soon! Not that it is big weakness - even others may have this weakness, but since he is the key player in the team it will affect the dressing room if he gets out quickly like this in big matches! If Shaw (or anyone, sure Rahul can't anymore) can play as aggressively as he has already done in Test Matches, then there is no need of thinking that Kohli has to play maximum of the 50 overs (let him play the maximum of middle overs - where he is good at! Let him avoid all those flashy shots in the air and just work on hitting along the ground & finding gaps & running 2s & 3s which he is so good at! He has enough stats already let's not worry about that! We are fed up of these personal stats!)
Now we will have proper batsmen till No.5, then Pant @ No.6 (this is where he has to be used - like we saw in tests! He need not slog always, he can do that recovery job effectively with ball getting properly old! If he is not a natural slogger/finisher, then let him leave that slogging to No.7 & No.8) I am sure Pant will also get enough opportunities to partner top order batsman & build a long innings when he bats at No.6... Let him concentrate also on Wicket-keeping which is also important! This I am talking in ODIs... I think people are confusing & mixing T20s... In T20 he can bat at No.4 or even higher, no issues (I know he will be wasted at No.4). A completely different strategy has to be employed for T20s (We may even see a change in the team as well!) People should understand what is ODI cricket at least after seeing this world cup!
And in the bowling India has the great Bumrah (I hope he will continue this form for many more years & continues to become even more lethal!) Kuldeep can also improve. It is not mandatory to have both wrist-spinners in the same team (unless it is a turning pitch). Rotate them based on form/fitness/opposition(left/right batsmen)... Let both of them be in the squad. As both of them are not that good in batting & fielding, Jadeja can come into picture if he continues this determination! Nothing wrong in having 1 finger spinner also in the team if he can contribute in several ways like this (The actual mistake was playing both Ashwin & Jadeja and then both Wrist spinners always! Play 1 each!)
Yes Shami was a mixed bag! Did pick wickets and then went for runs in the death! So coach should come into play and sort out this issue (Make Shami work on it) But Bhuvaneshwar definitely doesn't seem like improving... We can find other alternatives...
Think positively and keep working... Kohli can still be captain if he keeps his head in the right position, otherwise I don't mind him to be sacked and let Rohit be given the opportunity (in LOIs) The team should stay focused and should not develop over-confidence or think like stupids as they did so far! I hope my concern reaches them in some way!
If we still see Dhoni continued, Karthik making multiple comebacks through backdoors, side-windows... Jadhav bats & bowls like Godzilla against WI, then the same thing will repeat!
