Will the long season of cricket impact India's chances in CT?

Team India have had a ball across the long home season that began in 2016, and spilled well over into 2017; their bounty – 4 Test series wins, and 1 ODI and T20 series apiece. Throw in the grand festival of cricket that is the Indian Premier League and it really makes it a hard stint at the office, especially for those who were there from the New Zealand series right up to the IPL playoffs.

4 back to back Test series have caused its share of troubles to IPL franchises, some of who were left without their premier players. The likes of KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin were forced to give the landmark 10^th edition of the IPL a miss due to injuries and strains. Rahul, in particular, will not feature in the Champions Trophy either as he is yet to recover from a shoulder injury.

India have opted for experience over youth in their Champions Trophy squad and brought back some of the veterans to the team. A slightly rusty Virat Kohli will be at the helm for the defending champions, ably guided by his predecessor MS Dhoni. However, the question still stands, are India sufficiently rested for the mega-event?

Perhaps this particular home season was an unusually long one, and it will make many wonder whether it was detrimental to India’s chances when they begin their Champions Trophy defense in England. While some might feel players haven’t had sufficient time to regroup and acclimatize themselves to English conditions, we at CricTracker believe otherwise. We feel India’s long home season, and especially the IPL, have played right into the hands of the defending champions.

India have been playing top notch cricket for the past 8 months

As far as Team India are concerned, they have been playing non-stop top notch cricket since September 2016. Barring Australia’s spectacular effort to sink the Indians in the Pune Test, India’s record has been spick-and-span. Hence, one can expect the Indian Cricket Team to once again bring out their best when they clash against Pakistan in their CT opener.

The IPL benefited Indian players in a slightly different way, mainly in terms of bowling at the death. The trend of this year’s IPL has been Indian seamers bowling brilliantly at the death, and the two names that stand out are of course Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will both don the Indian jersey in the UK.

50-over cricket is increasingly resembling its younger brother T20 in the way it’s being played. Death overs bowling has hence become a vital aspect of success in the one-dayers, and India will bank on their seamers to do the job on the big stage.

Peaking at the right time

Success in a tournament as important as the Champions Trophy hinges on peaking at the right time. Again, it is the IPL which played a critical role in bringing out two revamped players in Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Both known for their aggressive approaches to the game, Rohit and Shikhar were struggling to squeeze into the Indian team lately.

However, their responsible performances in the IPL which displayed a fine mix of aggression and steadiness has earned them a spot in the Champions Trophy squad. Since they’ve done the hard work a couple of weeks ahead of the Champions Trophy, we can expect them to peak right during the knock-out stages.

Secrets from overseas players

Moreover, what the IPL does is, it allows players to understand strengths and weaknesses of their own teammates as well as opponents. In the Sunrisers Hyderabad setup, for instance, David Warner would have perhaps revealed Aaron Finch’s drawbacks to his go-to bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Meanwhile, having bowled to his SRH skipper in the nets, Bhuvi would have picked up on Warner’s shortcomings as well.

However, when it comes to the Champions Trophy, if India do meet Australia in the knock-out stages, we might well see Bhuvi having a go at the Warner-Finch duo. The dynamics change completely in such circumstances. Exchanges during a tournament like the IPL will work in favor of both India and Australia in the given example, as even Warner will know how to tackle Bhuvi upfront.That being said, the Indians will look to cash in the information they were able to extract while rubbing shoulders with some of the better overseas players, who are likely to go head to head against them during the Champions Trophy.

That being said, the Indians will look to cash in the information they were able to extract while rubbing shoulders with some of the better overseas players, who are likely to go head to head against them during the Champions Trophy.

Prolonged match fitness

Essentially, we feel most of the players representing India are at their prime exactly when they need to. The IPL has been partly responsible for the way they’ve shaped up. Despite experts opining that Team India are going into the Champions Trophy overworked, we believe that the extensive cricket the boys have played would have kept them in prolonged match fitness.

In perspective, Pakistan haven’t had much match practice and might take some time to fine-tune themselves. As a result, we feel India’s long home season will work as an advantage for them and bolster their chances of winning the second Champions Trophy on the trot.