R. Mohan | Entertainment at Its Best As Blasts From the Willow Reverberate

It has been a great time for armchair spectating. The power of the willow has never been so emphasised as in the three India-West Indies ODIs. Sustained power hitting over the length of 50 overs and the chasing down relatively comfortably of a target ion excess of 400 pointed to how much the modern batsmen have come to dominate limited-overs cricket.

Beyond the comfort of batting on home pitches that tend to accentuate batting prowess that singes the souls of suffering bowlers, what made the week even more memorable was the march of India in T20i cricket that appears unstoppable at the moment, even if the final of the Asia Cup was closer than captain Shreyas Iyer and coach VVS Laxman would have imagined.

The Indian juggernaut marches on, downing Pakistan for the 15th time in the format (against 3 losses) even as they reeled off a seventh win in a row against hapless opponents who seem to have lost all hope of ever upsetting the applecart as they once did in Dubai with two virtually unplayable sharp in-cutters from Shaheen Afridi upending India’s top order a few years ago.

The pitches at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan were not like the ones usually tailored for the big T20 blasters of the game. Having staved off an upset win for Japan by a mere two runs, India found their footing while expanding their batting lineup knowing that a couple of finger spinners in the mix would be sufficient to contain the opposition by taking wickets.

Tilak Varma may not be the most attractive of India’s array of T20 batsmen who have established such a dominance as to be ranked the stop side in both LOI formats, but he is always ready to grapple and bat the depth of the 20 overs to make the running as in the Japan Asiad or in chasing as he did in the last Asia Cup to land the spoils against Pakistan.

It is a tribute to the depth of T20 batting lineup Team India boasts of that not even Shubman Gill, that sublime striker of the ball, even within the confines of overs-limit cricket, gets a place in the shortest format. That Gill has taken his batting to an altogether higher level was noticeable in his double century in the chase, which is a unique record in ODI cricket.

The sky’s the limit as the ODI and Test skipper has established himself as one of the premier batsmen of the game by the age of 27. As he is so well ensconced in his leadership role, he has adjusted splendidly to having two very senior strikers in the team like Virat Kohli at 37 and Rohit Sharma at 39.

Seeing the senior men reel off the runs in centuries even as Kohli explained so well why he can bat more freely now and hit the ball now that his role has moved on from being the principal batsman with a sense of responsibility to take the game deep every time he is at the crease, means Team India is at a great place ahead of the ODI World Cup of 2027. And KL Rahul reminds us that no matter where he is in the batting order, he can produce the classiest of innings with brutal hitting towards the end overs. Such versatility makes him one of the most valuable members of the ODI team.

Of course, the West Indies, batting splendidly throughout the ODI series, put up mammoth totals while batting first and proving to India that they can chase competently too in the conditions in the third ODI, did serve up a reality check. The stirring deeds of John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope – who made the highest score by a captain and wicket-keeper in ODI history – and Amir Jangoo at the batting crease went to show how much more competitive the West Indies can be in ODIs if their bowling is more incisive.

The warning bells over Team India’s ODI bowling were clear enough in such a high scoring series. Given the uncertainty over Bumrah’s continued presence, it is crystal clear that Team India has much work to do with the quick bowlers in settling them into a combination while also ensuring their fitness levels stay consistently high.

The slow over rate is also a problem that the skipper and his bowlers must work on if they are not to suffer from the field placement restrictions in the death overs when a fifth fielder must remain in the ring whenever the over rate becomes a problem. But, before worrying over future events, let us rejoice in where Team India has got to as the clear major force in limited-overs formats.