With India’s two stalwarts moving away from Test cricket, a stern test awaits Ajit Agarkar-led men’s senior selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir. Rohit Sharma’s retirement and Virat Kohli’s impending announcement now presents the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with no option but to build a Test squad keeping the next World Test Championship cycle in mind, which begins with the tour of England next month.The leadership seems to be going as per plan, at least for now, with Shubman Gill getting the backing but it’s the other pieces which need to fall in place for India to return to dominant ways in the longest format. Rohit opens up a spot at top of the order but it’s the middle-order, expected to get thinner with Kohli’s exit, which looks very unstable and needs a lot of attention.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Termed as the “crisis man” and “Mr. Adaptable”, KL Rahul could well be the crucial piece in the batting order as he has enough experience now and will finally have a place in the lineup. The bigger question, however, is where does he bat?
Rahul started the Australia tour as an opener, moved to No. 3 for the Boxing Day Test and was back at top for the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. While such movement now is unlikely, the think tank needs to take the call of where they want him to bat. Opening would have been a no-brainer when Rohit called it a day but with now Kohli also unlikely to travel to England, Rahul in the middle-order – at No.4 – could well be the glue which Team India needs to hold the batting together.Considering KL Rahul bats in the middle, these are the potential candidates who are making a strong case for themselves for selection:
The top-order: Yashasvi Jaiswal is an automatic selection and Sai Sudharsan is making the right noise with the bat in the last 12 months. He is rated very highly, has good technique and more importantly, holds game awareness and big match temperament. Even the strike-rate demands of the shortest format hasn’t affected him and he continues to elevate his game and strike-rate every season without losing shape.Abhimanyu Easwaran could well be the backup opener again as he hasn’t done anything wrong since the Australia tour to not find a spot in the squad. No.3 is Shubman Gill for the near future but it’s about time he proves his worth away from home and puts all the debates to rest. The returns weren’t encouraging in Australia but the England series is a golden opportunity for the right-hander.
Poll
Should KL Rahul bat at No. 4 in the upcoming Test series?
Middle-order: This is an area which needs a lot of attention and direction for the future. Kohli will not be there at No. 4 so it makes a lot of sense for KL Rahul to be that glue in the middle-order and have the likes of Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy and one between Devdutt Padikkal and Shreyas Iyer to bat around him. Padikkal has been in the Test scheme of things and Iyer could be in line for a recall to the whites, considering the paucity of options.If not a direct India call, it will be a no-brainer to have Iyer travel with the India A team and be ready for the opportunity whenever it comes his way. He hasn’t put a foot wrong, across formats, since the central contract issue and has become the mainstay for India’s middle-order in ODIs. There are a lot of narratives around his short-ball game but he could well solve those middle-order woes in Tests. He has only played three overseas Tests in his career so far and the success for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy should make a strong case for his return to Indian whites.
The all-rounders: England by no means will serve turners to the Indian cricket team but more than their bowling, India could use batting of the three spinning all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washnington Sundar. Jadeja should be an automatic selection for his batting and bowling both but Axar and Washington’s batting could help at least one, if not both, find a spot in the squad.Axar has elevated his batting several notches in the last few years and Washington too has got the preference for his temperament with the bat. As far as the seam-bowling all-rounder is concerned, Nitish Kumar Reddy is the front-runner, in fact the only runner, for the spot.
The wicketkeepers: Continuity will be maintained here with both Pant and Dhruv Jurel making the cut. Jurel was very close to playing in Australia as a specialist batter and it will not be a surprise if the management considers that option in England too.Specialist spin: Kuldeep Yadav is a no-brainer for the specialist spinner spot. He has mostly played at home in his Test career but with Ashwin calling it a day in Australia, the chinaman is set to get more chances abroad and that X-factor to the bowling attack.
The quicks: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana are front-runners to be in the mix but Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal will present a happy headache to the selectors. There is an option in Mukesh Kumar too and it remains to be seen whether the management adds a left-arm option in the mix.Keeping the workload in mind, five-six seamers could be part of the main squad and there could be two-three travelling reserves too. Shami hasn’t played Test cricket in a very long time and Bumrah too will be undergoing the long grind for the first time since the SCG Test vs Australia earlier this year.
Probable squad and reserves pool: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shreyas Iyer, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed/Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar
