TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: One of India’s biggest concerns ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup has been their inability to bat consistently in the middle. Between the 20-plus and 35-overs, when teams often look to consolidate before launching lethal attacks, breakthroughs have only come sporadically.The trend is evident in recent bilateral series. Against Australia, India managed just four wickets in the three-match phase, while New Zealand further exposed the problem, with India going wicketless in the middle overs in the Rajkot and Indore ODIs, which they eventually lost. South Africa also offered a brighter picture Kuldeep YadavHarshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna combined for nine wickets in three matches.The Afghanistan series continued with mixed results. India picked up five wickets in the rain-shortened ODI in Dharamsala and another five in Lucknow, but managed just one wicket in the middle in Chennai despite dominating the contest.Interestingly, with the team management seeming to have lost confidence in left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has been India’s real wicket-taker in the middle overs, Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill they will have to find a solution.Captain Gill believes the answer lies in India’s tall fast bowlers: Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who he thinks are capable of creating opportunities even when the conditions offer little help.“Honestly, the combination and the type of bowlers we are trying to play is part of what we are building. We want to create as many chances as possible,” Gill told reporters after India sealed a 3-0 win over Afghanistan.“At that middle stage, we’ve seen that when the ball gets a bit older on a good wicket, with only four fielders outside the circle, batting becomes a lot easier. That’s why we try to play bowlers like Prasidh and Harshit. They’re tall, fast bowlers who offer us something different.“At the same time, it’s important to give someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy enough overs in the middle, even if we know there could be better options for those conditions that can bring us wickets. It’s important for players like him to gain confidence going into the World Cup,” added Gill.Gill said that India’s young fast bowlers are being trained to adapt quickly to different surfaces by identifying the ideal length as early as possible. On red earth gates, he wants them to be fuller, while black earth plots require slightly shorter lengths.The emphasis, he said, is on consistently hitting the top of the off-stump, around the fourth stump – the most difficult line for batsmen to score from. India also want their pacers to use their natural bounce to continue to create wicket-taking opportunities, even if it occasionally results in extra runs.“It’s about assessing the wicket. Different wickets require different lengths. On a wicket like this you have to bowl a bit fuller, whereas on a black-soil wicket you might have to bowl a bit shorter. As a bowling unit, what we try to do is assess the conditions as early as possible and consistently hit that area from the top of the off-stump because that’s the hardest ball to score off,” he said.“At the same time, we want to continue to use the bounce. It also gives the batsmen opportunities to score, but it also creates chances for us to take wickets.”Gill looked quite happy with the performance of the Indian pace quartet in this series. It was the debut series for Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav and the captain found it an encouraging sign.
“It’s very encouraging. These are great signs for Indian cricket that we can continue to produce fast bowlers who consistently bowl over 140,” said Gill, who was adjudged the player of the series.“We have a good group of tall and fast bowlers who can hit the right areas and still create chances with the old ball, even when there isn’t much help from the wicket or the conditions.”Among the tall fast bowlers, Gurnoor Brar was probably the revelation of the series. The six-foot-five pacer picked up seven wickets in three games, bowled at a brisk pace and got good bounce off the surface. But Gill feels Brar has a lot to learn going forward and hopes the 26-year-old pacer will only grow in confidence from now on.“I think he ticked most of the boxes. There are some things that only come with experience and I hope he continues to grow as a bowler.“If I have to be very critical, he conceded a few runs and was a bit inconsistent at times. But he’s young, playing his first series at the highest level and bowls fast. He’s got all the qualities we want in a young, tall fast bowler, and he’s only going to get better with experience,” Gill said.Prasidh Krishna, another tall fast bowler, blew Afghanistan away on the pitch with some pace and bounce in Chennai, producing a sensational bowling display to claim his maiden ODI five for.“What he brings to the table is that we saw that there was good wicket-taking early on and the ball was a bit successful,” Gill said in praise of his Gujarat Titans team-mate.“If he continues to hit those areas consistently, he can create a lot of opportunities for us as a pitcher. If he continues like that, it will be great for the team.”Gill said India are keeping their fast bowling plans flexible rather than assigning fixed roles. WITH Jasprit Bumrah expected to return for the England tour, indicated that Bumrah could take the new ball, while Prasidh Krishna is equally capable of doing so if required.“It’s about being flexible. There’s no one fixed role,” Gill said.The captain added that the management encourages the bowlers to adapt to different combinations and bowl with maximum intensity.“We are trying out different combinations and we encourage our bowlers to give their best whether they are bowling with a new ball or as a first change,” he said.“We talked about giving bowlers like Prasidh and Gurnoor shorter spells of three or four overs and asking them to play their hearts out and bowl as fast as they can.”Whether the experiment will ultimately succeed will only become clear closer to the World Cup, but India’s direction is clear. Instead of relying solely on wrist spin for penetration up the middle, management is investing in a battery of tall fast bowlers who can get bounces, hit the deck hard and force errors even on quiet surfaces. If Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana continue to develop, India could head into the World Cup with a very different plan for the middle order.
