At long last, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri got their selections right.
In South Africa they made some fundamental errors that hurt their chances, and then for the first two Tests in England they ‘chased their tail’ as Nassar Hussein quite accurately put it.
However in a Test with the series on the line, they got it spot on.
India were criticized for their lack of preperation in South Africa, justified given their batting didn’t adjust to the conditions well enough. However they made some errors with selection that also cost them.
Rohit Sharma undoubtedly has talent, but that is yet to transfer to the long form of the game. He did well on home soil against Sri Lanka leading into the series, and was selected over Ajinkya Rahane to bat at 5. The problem with going on form for this selection was a couple of things.
Rahane is the team vice-captain and a senior member of the team. Rahane’s form was poor coming into the series, however some players earn a longer rope and more chances to come good. Rahane is one of these players.
His record overseas, including South Africa, was excellent. He also had helped take the deciding test away from Australia when the two clashed in 2017. He stood up when it mattered. Rahane’s non-selection, although justified if selecting on form, just lacked a little bit of the loyalty he had earned.
They refused to make the Rahane for Sharma change for the second test, a test they lost by 135 runs. The series was over.
In England for the first Test, they dropped Cheteshwar Pujara, who wasn’t in great form, and managed to fit three openers into the team. None did well.
India in recent times also have been batting their wicketkeeper at 6 in the batting order. They did with Wriddiman Saha and Parthiv Patel in South Africa, and have done it with Dinesh Karthik in England. The problem is, this tactic continues to fail, and they continue to do it!
Australia had a batsman in Adam Gilchrist who was of high quality. However, with the rare exception of trying to chase runs, Gilchrist batted at 7. The keeper’s traditional spot at 7 provided Australia with a balance they could see value in.
When India finally batted their maturing all-rounder in Hardik Pandya at 6 in the first innings at Trent Bridge, and newcomer Rishabh Pant at 7, they finally had a balance that was missing previously.
Pant made a promising start to his test career. When they shifted the keeper to 6 in the second innings, he missed out with a score of 1. It will be interesting to see India’s next move on this front.
If we look at the second test team, selecting two spinners on a wicket where a spinner didn’t take a wicket for the test was a mistake.
In the third test at Nottingham, they got it right. Two openers and not three. Pujara and Rahane, their trusted top order batsmen in their right positions, with Kohli in between them. Their all-rounder at 6 and their keeper at 7.
Ashwin is a test number 8, and a good one at that. Then the bowlers. Three seamers on this wicket was the right choice.
Shastri and Kohli have been trying to follow their instinct for 8 months now, starting in January at South Africa. They had not got it right, but when they did, India produced their best performance for the year.
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