The Indian team came out of the practice game against Essex with more questions than answers.
In spite of having a stellar run in Test cricket, the Indian team never bore a settled look over that time. The constant chopping and changing of personnel in the India Test team has left it with an unsettled batting line up.
The Indian team haven’t experimented a lot either. Karun Nair, who scored that memorable 300, hasn’t found a spot in the XI and hasn’t played too much cricket since then. The opening position has been like musical chairs between Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Kannanur Lokesh Rahul. Rohit Sharma has been in and out of the XI as well, and his selection in South Africa ahead of Ajinkya Rahane drew a lot of flak.
The only spot which has been constant over the last two years has been the captaincy. The rest of the players have been dropped for one reason or the other over the last couple of years.
The main problem for the Indian captain is that his number three, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been struggling as well. Pujara, who has been in the UK for about three months now, has struggled with the bat. He did not score any runs in county cricket, and his failure in the practice match raises doubts on his inclusion in the XI.
Pujara’s struggles outside Subcontinent are well documented. He averages 27.3 in 35 innings with just one hundred and four fifties. I feel that time is running out for the Indian number three. He bats for a long time with little output, and the Indian team, which plays only five specialist batsmen, cannot afford such a player in the XI.
India came to England with an option of playing all three openers in the XI, which received a huge jolt, with Shikhar Dhawan getting a pair in the practice game. Dhawan also had an indifferent limited-overs leg of the tour. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were among the runs in the practice game, which means that both of them will be part of the XI. Karun Nair, who is another batsman in the squad, did not get many runs with the chance he got to bat.
India also has two wicketkeepers in the squad who both look in great form. Dinesh Karthik scored 82 and Rishabh Pant, who came at the end of the innings, scored an unbeaten 34. There is also a possibility of playing both the keepers considering Dinesh Karthik is an excellent fielder as well. Karthik, who has opened in the past in England, may also be considered for the number three spot, with Rishabh Pant playing at number six
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The English team, though, will be quietly confident. Their bowling attack will be extremely tough to negotiate in home conditions. The Indian think tank still have a lot of tough calls to make.
The advantage for the hosts is that Joe Root and Alastair Cook both look in tremendous form. Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have been in brilliant form throughout the year. Moeen Ali’s return gives them the much-needed boost lower down the order along with Ben Stokes.
The English team looks the more settled of the two. The Indian team’s lack of interest and intent in the practice game did not help matters as well. India could have really benefitted from an additional day of batting in the game against Essex.
With just over a day to go for the first Test to begin, the Indian camp has some serious selection headaches and at the moment the English team look the firm favourites to win the series.
Paul
Roar Guru
Giri Can you go back and look at the last 10 Test England has played to see what sort of output THEY have had from their guys? I don't dispute what you've written about the Indian side, but the team still has a number of world class batsmen. England has exactly one - Root. Cook might score a gazillion runs in County cricket but this has translated into 2 decent scores in recent times. His average was comfortably over 50 a couple of years ago and is now 45 - still very good but not great. If the contest comes down to Indian batting versus English bowling, or England batting versus Indian bowling, I'd have my money on Kohli and his guys for sure. One final thought. The stupidity of playing ONE practice game before a Test series needs to stop as well. I'm no fan of the BCCI and this piece of stupid scheduling confirms they must have zero regard for their Test players. They've given them no real chance to get used to conditions, both in England and SA - then wonder why India loses series away from home.
Rats
Guest
Shaky indeed.. As usual, as Indian fans we can only hope against hopes. Sad part this time is, even England is not in good shape. They have more questions than answers. Their home record in recent years has been terrible during an era where everyone is winning at home. They even lost a test to an inexperienced Pak side two months back. So ideally one would expect the star studded India to start as favorites. but they wont be.. And it is not even like we have best players on bench waiting for an opportunity. This is the best India have got and they are not in good form. Only 2-3 players are expected to do well. 1. M Vijay - Expected to do well. but not considered as match winner 2. Dhawan - may struggle to score more than zero KL Rahul - good potential, but not expected to do well 3. C Pujara - spent plenty of time in UK, but still doesn't look confident and doesnt look like he is going to get better off Anderson and Broad 4. Kohli - match winner, fighter, swing and 4th stump line can still get him. almost we can envision the way he is going to get out 5. Rahane - good potential, but not expected to do well 6. Ashwin - all big talk, can't bat well if the above are not going to score many, over-rated as an all rounder, will be a miracle if he can get wickets in England. not expected to do well. K Yadav - need to wait and watch, but can't win single handedly 7. I Sharma - will bowl well, but not expected to take wickets 8. U Yadav - not expected to cause big impact 9. M Shami - not expected to do well 10. R Pant - bold experiment 11. D Karthik - figher, not a match winner in test matches And yet we think this is the best side India can ever get to beat Eng in Eng. So much for IPL and U19 WC wins.. This is the team combination of the no.1 Test team in the world. Just shows how much Test cricket has become conditions dependent. Also, shows BCCI can have all the money, can win U19 tournaments, can boast about having great youngsters in the waiting but to produce a quality test side you need much much more..
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
You are right :) That was a typo from Roar, I meant 1 hundred and 4 fifties.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
That was a typo from Roar, I meant 1 hundred and 4 fifties.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Damn, beat me to it.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I assume "just 104 fifties" was supposed to be "just one hundred and four fifties". Anyone who scores 104 fifties away from home is pretty good in my book. Especially from only 35 innings. ;)
David a Pom
Guest
104 fifties outside the subcontinent sounds pretty good to me
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
It will be interesting to see what team India plays. There are lots of permutations and combinations possible. I hope they take the right calls. I wouldn't want to be part of the Indian think tank at the moment.
Saurebh Gandle
Roar Guru
If India is competitive in their first innings, I think India has a better chance to compete in the entire test.
Saurebh Gandle
Roar Guru
If at all it makes the battle even.