The loss to Australia was a timely wake-up call, but there is no need to panic about the Indian cricket team’s World Cup preparations.

Suryakumar got out first ball again in the last ODI in Chennai by going back on a delivery that he should have played on the front foot. It revealed that he was perplexed, and that a certain amount of fear of failure, which he was unaware of until then, had crept up on him.
The string of low scores this month may be a blessing in disguise for him because he still has time to work on his flaws. Suryakumar has issues with deliveries that seam after pitching on hard lengths, which he may be able to work on in the coming months while playing in the IPL. To be fair, despite his stellar ODI record, Iyer still struggles against bouncers and short pitches, but the Indian team management gave him a chance.
However, Rahul Dravid’s obsession with match-ups and reshuffling Suryakumar’s batting order to bring out his T20 avatar in the 50-over format by keeping him for the final 15 overs may do more harm than good to the Mumbai batter.
Suryakumar should be backed up to the hilt and given a chance to settle at No. 4 for the next set of ODIs, which begin in July if there are no fitness issues. This is especially true given that Iyer may not have enough time and matches to prepare for a tournament like the World Cup following his back surgery.
Sanju Samson’s case and KL RahulThere has been a call to try Sanju Samson in the middle order, but if he is, it should be as a keeper-batter in place of KL Rahul, India’s highest run-scorer in the series with 116 runs, who still doesn’t look the part with his lack of intent.
Regarding Rahul, one can point to his 75 against Australia in Mumbai or his half-century against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens after a top-order collapse on seaming tracks as examples of good performances, but the counter-argument could be that both occasions had low chaseable targets when there was no scoreboard pressure.
Rahul’s inability to hit a boundary until the 44th delivery of the third ODI is an example of how he allows pressure to build. In a 270-run chase, he was eventually out for 32 off 50 balls.
Unless he is playing second fiddle to someone who is going hammer and tongs, Rahul batting in the middle order while chasing 320 and above may not be a sure-shot proposition.
In that case, and because Rishabh Pant is unavailable, Samson is the best option available.
source: Sports takPitches will be different during the World Cup.With six months until the World Cup, India’s preparations will actually begin three months before the tournament, in July, when the team management will zero in on the best 13 players who will form the core group.
To put things in perspective, even if the Indian team is at its worst during the World Cup, it can afford to lose a maximum of four games and still make it to the semi-finals, where it will need to have two good knock-out days, as it did in Mohali and Mumbai during the title-winning campaign in 2011.
Lately, India’s approach has been a little out of date. It’s similar to the 1990s approach of consolidation at the start, followed by a quiet period in the middle over before attempting the final flourish in the back 10 against quality teams.
The loose ends that the Indian team currently has can be tied up and the gaps filled. But it would depend on whether Coach Dravid is looking for a quick fix or a long-term solution.