The white-ball leg of India’s ongoing tour of Australia is finally done and dusted. Now the entire focus shifts towards the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts from December 17 with a Day-Night Test in Adelaide. Despite winning their last Test series in Down Under, the Indians this time are being considered as underdogs. Furthermore, Virat Kohli’s absence in the major part of the series will hurt their chances even more. Hence, presently the team management is leaving no stone unturned to get the boys prepared for this ultimate challenge of facing the Aussies at their own backyard.
Going into the series, the visitors are getting an ample amount of time to acclamatise, which includes two three-day warm-up matches and one of those has already been played out at the Drummoyne Oval in Sydney on the sidelines of the T20I series. The second practice game will be a day-nighter, scheduled to take place at the SCG from Friday (December 11) and before flying down to Adelaide just a couple of days prior to the first Test, this will be India’s final opportunity to identify their ideal combination.
So, here are a few key aspects which the think-tank needs to consider as they head into this high profile series.
Who will partner Mayank Agarwal at the top?
Initially, one of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill was slotted to be India’s second opener alongside Mayank Agarwal. During India’s last Test assignment in New Zealand Shaw was given the role but with just 98 runs in four knocks, he failed to live up to the expectations. Also, his recent form is quite concerning as the youngster scored 0 and 19 in the first warm-up game. Hence, going into the series Shaw is not an automatic choice in the playing XI.
(Source: PTI)
However, his competitor for the opening slot, Gill, too had a rough outing in the practice game. Much like Shaw, he also failed to get off the mark in the first innings and looked too flashy with his strokeplay-which eventually led to his dismissal for 29 in the second dig.
Now the question is, will the team management trust one of these two scratchy youngsters to face the music in Adelaide or should they consider a much-experienced KL Rahul to do the job? Let’s not forget that Rahul’s recent white-ball form is pretty good and he has an excellent understanding with his Karnataka and Kings XI Punjab teammate Agarwal. Ideally, the Indian camp should give Rahul a go at the top in the second warm-up game and take a call based on his performance.
The third seamer conundrum
With Ishant Sharma missing the tour, Umesh Yadav is expected to fill the spot of India’s third seamer at least in the first Test. During the warm-up game at Drummoyne Oval he led the attack pretty well and seemed to be in good rhythm. Umesh bowled 20 overs in the first innings and took 3 for 48 whereas in the second innings (which lasted only 15 overs) he bowled 4 overs and took 1 for 14.
Meanwhile, the most pleasing aspect of his performance was his accuracy. With the new ball Umesh got some swing and he was hitting the deck hard with his pace.
Source: Twitter (BCCI)
After his performance Umesh has almost sealed his place in the XI for Adelaide. However, in the second practice game the team management will probably try out Navdeep Saini and his performance will be closely monitored as well.
Ashwin or Kuldeep
During the 2018-19 series, Kuldeep Yadav was India’s best spinner on display as he took 5 wickets in the Sydney Test. However, thereafter his career graph went downhill as the left-armer continued to lose his mojo. In fact, the Sydney Test was his last outing in this format.
Source: Twitter (BCCI)
Now, in the upcoming series Kuldeep is back in the reckoning, especially in Adelaide where Ravindra Jadeja will be unavailable for selection. Though in the practice game he hasn’t done anything which can further strengthen his claim. On the other hand Ravichandran Ashwin’s 2 for 62 in the game is being considered as a decent outing. So, as of now he is the front-runner for the spot of India’s only specialist spinner in the first Test.
Pant or Saha
Rishabh Pant, who has been India’s first-choice keeper in away Tests in recent times, didn’t feature in the playing XI at Drummoyne Oval owing to a slight neck strain. Whereas Wriddhiman Saha, who too is fighting for a spot in the XI, had an impressive show with bat and gloves. His unbeaten half-century (54*) in the second innings came under difficult circumstances as he batted with the tail and added some useful runs for his team.
Source: Twitter (BCCI)
If Saha can produce the kind of counterattack that he did in that practice game on a rather tricky pitch, Pant might well end up warming the bench for a major part of this upcoming Test series.