The Indian team that will take the field for the first Test against England will mark the start of a new era. The last time that India took the field without either of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin or Rohit Sharma, was in August 2011, at the Oval. That was the final Test of a four-match series which India lost 0-4. Since then, for 14 years, India havenever fielded an XI without at least one of those three stalwarts being present. More often than not, all three were.
It’s fitting that India are returning to the scene of the crime, as it were, That 2011 series marked one of the lowest points of a side in transition. A generation and more later, another Indian side in transition begins its journey in England.
Where will Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant bat?
There are four certainties among the batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. While Rahul has yo-yoed up and down the order a bit, with no Rohit or Kohli around, it seems like his most natural position will also be the best fit for the team. Rahul will thus open the batting alongside Jaiswal. That much seems fairly certain. What India have to fix on is who will two other spots in the top six go to, and where they want captain Gill and vice-captain Pant to bat.
The no. 4 spot has traditionally been the preserve of the side’s best batter. Sachin Tendulkar held the mantle for long, and Kohli then seamlessly took over. The time is ripe for Gill to take the baton next. Gill has all the tools for the job: a good technique, mostly orthodox. He has an even temperament, especially while batting.
That is one of the essential ingredients for a batting captain: that you don’t suddenly feel weighed down in the middle because of the ‘C’ next to your name on the team sheet. You have to think like a batter. Gill has articulated the same thoughts, so he knows what is needed. He has the security of knowing his spot is guaranteed as captain, and a few failures aren’t going to put his head on the chopping block. And he seems to have the appetite and ambition to be ‘The Man’ for India.
You suspect, Pant’s position could float between no.5 and 6 depending on the game situation. Which leaves India with slotting in a no.3 and a lower-middle order batter. The claimants from the current Test squad are: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan.
Easwaran has been an almost perennial non-playing member of India’s Test squads. He will surely be ready to take his opportunity, should it finally come his way. However, the same holds true for the other three as well. Nair has manifested a second chance for himself with the sheer weight of runs, and hit a double ton for India A against England Lions.
Meanwhile, Jurel has compiled a series of solid scores too. Sudharsan might have the leanest CV among them, but he has potentially the highest ceiling. There is a reason why a lot of people connected with Indian cricket view Sudharsan as potentially an all-format star. He has all the makings of a batter capable of excelling across conditions, situations and formats.
Whichever two India pick from these will have earned their spot. And whoever is left out will have done nothing wrong. That is a home truth of playing Test cricket.
How the Indian bowling attack will look like?
Of late, India hadn’t used Ashwin much in overseas conditions, so perhaps his absence from the XI will not be as keenly felt. Undoubtedly though, his cricketing brain, experience and nous will be terribly missed in the backroom. Ashwin had the stature and the courage of conviction to challenge established views, and that is not something that is developed overnight.
In the playing XI, India are likely to go with three seamers. Whether the last two spots are split between an allrounder and a spinner, two allrounders, or an allrounder and a seamer, will depend heavily on conditions as well as who is looking good in the lead-up to the Test.
India have a player similar to Ashwin’s profile in Washington Sundar, but he is obviously not at Ashwin’s skill-level yet. Given that, if the team wants a frontline spinner, it may not be a bad idea to plump for Kuldeep Yadav, who poses the biggest wicket-taking threat among India’s spinners. That might leave the team lighter on batting, which is a balance they’ll need to strike.
One thing is for sure: whatever options India take, it will be some time before the void left by Kohli, Ashwin and Rohit is fully filled.
