Indian cricket is going through a talent pool problem which also can be considered a sweet headache for the team management. Currently while one Indian team of 24 players is in England, another set of 20 Indian players are in Sri Lanka. Both the teams will represent India in two different nations and formats. The team in England will play a test series of 5 matches. Moreover, the team which travelled to Sri Lanka would play a total of 6 matches across two series of 3 ODIs and 3 T20s.
When a team have such amount of talent in abundance, there is always pressure on the players to perform. They know that reserved players are breathing down the neck and miserable display by them will result in axing from the team and replacement. Hence, a lot of players who represented India find themselves in similar position. It can be said about these cricketers is that they could have already played their last ODI game.
5 of such players are :
1 ) Ishant Sharma – The lanky fast bowler from Delhi has played more than 100 tests. That is quite a big achievement in itself for an Indian fast bowler. However when it comes to limited overs format, it appears that his career is all but finished. His last ODI was way back in 2016 vs Australia at the SCG. Indifferent performance from Ishant led to his axing from the team. With many new fast bowlers forming the crux of the team, Ishant is not likely to feature in ODIs anymore.
2 ) Ajinkya Rahane – The right handed batsman from Mumbai has played 90 ODIs to date with a decent average of 35. However, it is his strike rate that is under scrutiny. In an era where bare minimum acceptable strike rate is 80, he scores at 78/100 balls. Hence, he was dropped from the team in 2018. With new explosive batsmen for India waiting in the wings, Rahane career in ODIs is all but finished.
3 ) Ravi Ashwin – India’s premier off spinner in tests is Ravi Ashwin. He is undroppable in tests with a stunning record of 413 wickets in 78 tests. However when it comes to limited overs format, Ashwin has more than few competitors. After an ordinary display in the Champions trophy Final of 2017 where India lost, he was dumped out of the team. It was the last time he was seen in India blue jersey. Although Ashwin has taken 150 wickets in the ODIs, it seems his time in the ODIs is over.
Team India has moved on from these players
4 ) Kedar Jadhav – The punitive and attacking batsman find himself out of the national reckoning since early last year. He last appeared in India’s 0-3 loss to New Zealand when they toured the Kiwi nation. Jadhav averages a healthy 42 with a brilliant strike rate of 101. However, it his injury prone body and 36 years of age that is causing hindrances for his selection in the team. In all likelihood, India have moved on from him.
5 ) Umesh Yadav – A speedstar who can clock in at excess of 145km, Yadav has not played an ODI since 2018. After a thrashing he received in the home series vs West Indies, Yadav was out of the team. Since then, he plays only in the test matches. Moreover his poor strike rate of 6.1 did not help his cause in the ODIs as well.
