India's chance to formulate game plan before Champions Trophy

When Jayant Yadav turned up to bat during India's net session at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday, he had a distinguished pair of non-regular bowlers bowling to him. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, bowling offbreaks, were amusing themselves by servicing a group of lower-order batsmen that included Amit Mishra and Umesh Yadav. There was some good-natured teasing of Jayant's batting as Dhoni and Kohli bantered with the rookie.

Jayant is one of the newbies picked for the first three ODIs with the established bowlers rested. Ajinkya Rahane said the arrival of these players was "energising". Jayant is the only member in the squad without any international experience; he is not one of the 31 players who have played ODIs for India since the 2015 World Cup. He is, in fact, the only player who returned from the Zimbabwe tour in June without featuring in a single game.

But Jayant's is not a one-off situation. Only seven players have featured in 12 or more of the 19 ODIs India have played since April 2015. More than 10 players on the fringes have played at different points, particularly during the two limited-overs tours to Zimbabwe in 2015 and 2016 when many senior players sat out. The likes of Kedar Jadhav and Faiz Fazal would invariably make way for the bigger names once a more high-profile series began. There have also been injuries at different points, a reason for the high turnover of personnel. These patterns point to a larger issue; India's ODI game has been in limbo for some time now, something that is easy to overlook because of their recent golden run in Test matches.

India have lost nine of their last 19 ODIs since April 2015. While these numbers may not tell you much, consider this: India have lost three of their last five ODI series - against Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia - with their only wins coming against Zimbabwe. That they start the five-ODI series against New Zealand on almost equal footing despite playing at home and having swept the Tests tells you the story. India have only eight ODIs from now till the Champions Trophy - while New Zealand will play almost three times as many matches - to resolve some longstanding problems. With Dhoni almost certain to lead the team into the Champions Trophy, these ODIs present a timely opportunity to sort out the kinks.

Take the case of his seemingly unending search for the seam-bowling allrounder. After trying Stuart Binny and Rishi Dhawan with varying degrees of success in recent times, Dhoni seemed to have found in Hardik Pandya a third seamer who could biff the ball in the lower order. But with Pandya's form tapering off in the IPL, the selectors overlooked him for the Zimbabwe series. Now, despite not stacking up attractive numbers in India A's tour of Australia, the selectors have reverted to taking a punt on Pandya in recognition of the pressing need for a seam-bowling allrounder, particularly in English conditions for the Champions Trophy.

Another factor that would have bothered Dhoni is Suresh Raina's slipping form since the 2015 World Cup. When Raina was at the top of his game, Dhoni could not only turn to him for middle-order insurance, but also use him as the fifth or sixth bowler. While Raina has been recalled without many runs to show in recent times, should he click, it will offer Dhoni the comfort of returning to a proven success formula.

One of the more successful auditions in recent times has been that of Manish Pandey; he has not done much wrong since his hundred in Sydney. He has none of Raina's bowling abilities, but with his attacking batting and fielding skills, he makes a good case for a middle-order spot. There is also Axar Patel, who is a much improved lower-order striker apart from being a niggardly bowler, as he demonstrated for India A against Australia recently. In Ravindra Jadeja's absence, he has another opportunity to show why he can mimic the Saurashtra spinner's role.

Crucially for Dhoni, he now has Anil Kumble - who is into his first ODI series as coach - to lean on for tactical advice. With Kumble known to be a keen-eyed strategist, there could be a departure, even if just slightly, from the more gut-driven methods Dhoni had adopted in the past. No matter what Rahane or his team-mates say, India cannot afford to look at this series only for what it is. With bigger stakes looming in the form of the Champions Trophy, selection of personnel cannot be a one-off, and will have to be geared towards a larger and a more concrete game plan.