Why it is important for India to stop experimenting and play a settled group in New Zealand

Upcoming series against New Zealand is amongst the last few opportunities that Team India has got to settle their side for the 2019 World Cup. After all the experiments during the last year, it is time for them to settle their combination and get into the groove with their settled side.

It is imperative to let the players know about their expected role in the side during the World Cup and there can be none better opportunity than a place like New Zealand where conditions are very similar to conditions in England.

After all the experiments and sort of trials, a core group of players has emerged and barring few spots of back-up players the Indian eleven for the World Cup looks more or less certain. Top-order consists of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli where Sharma and Dhawan are poised to open the inning with Kohli coming at number 3. It appears that Dust is finally settling as far as Indian middle-order is concerned.

MS Dhoni is looking the front-runner to take the number 4 slot with an option to go to number 5 as per the situation. Dinesh Karthik seems to have grabbed number 5 slot via his ability to finish matches and Kedar Jadhav seems the best bet for number 6 slot due to his ability to provide late flourish, hitting big shots from the word go and being able to finish matches for India.

Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya seem to be the choice as all-rounders. Kuldeep Yadav seems to be leading spinner for India with Chahal as a back-up option while in pace department Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah are set to lead the Indian attack with Khaleel Ahmed and Shami as back-up options.

While it is good that core group looks settled for the Indian team, but at the same time, it is important that these players start to get some matches under their belt as a unit, before the World Cup, to get settled as a unit. Moreover, these matches are important for players to get used to playing at their designated places to understand the challenges of each position, also, players need some time in the middle to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses.

After all the chopping and changing, it is finally the time to settle the dust on the Indian combination for the World Cup and New Zealand is the ideal place to begin that journey towards the World Cup as a group.