As Rahul Dravid has taken over as Indian cricket team’s head coach and Rohit Sharma has succeeded Virat Kohli as the new all-format captain, their team is headed in a new direction.The recently concluded first Test between India and Sri Lanka was Rohit’s first as captain in the longest format and the great triumph saw him keep up his 100% record since being named permanent India captain in all formats.
Under the new leadership, it has been very evident that the Indian cricket team is a lot more open to experimentation and has operated in a very flexible system. From using Rishabh Pant as an opener in an ODI to moving Ravindra Jadeja up to No. 4 in a T20 International, India have tried new things where the opportunity or the need has increased. With cricket evolving as a sport, because of the rapid growth of data and analytics, this shows promising indications for an Indian cricket team that has long taken a more conventional approach.The conventional approach has worked well, with India dominating in all formats, especially in bilateral series. But the open mind shown by Dravid and Rohit can be the key to them adapting to different scenarios in major ICC tournaments, which is where they have been found wanting. After Pant had opened in the 2nd ODI series, Rohit said:
“I have been asked to do different things, so this was different. People will be happy seeing Rishabh open then, but yeah it is not permanent.”
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He further said:
“It is not always the results. We want to try a few things with the long term in the mind so we don’t mind if we lose the odd game in the process.”
With the sort of depth and number of options available to India, this kind of mindset is surely to hold them in well stead in the long run.
