Ravi Ashwin will be 38 this year, while Ravindra Jadeja, his partner-in-crime, is about 10 months away from being 36. Rohit Sharma, the skipper himself, is approaching 37 and Virat Kohli, the fulcrum of the batting order, will be 36. Mohammed Shami, who has been such an integral part of the Indian set-up across formats, is presently battling with a serious ankle injury. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Chesteshwar Pujara have more or less been phased out.
With Kohli presently not in the mix due to personal reasons, five out of the top seven batters in the home side have a grand total of 38 Test matches between them. So, does that serve as an excuse for India’s tepid performance on Day 2 of the Ranchi Test? No. But fans have to perhaps temper their expectations a bit as India are going through a transition phase.
Not just in the batting department, but a couple of gaping holes could be observed in the pace bowling unit as well in the Test series in South Africa. With Shami out injured, India’s third and fourth pacers – Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur – struggled to maintain their disciplines in the opening Test in Centurion. So, does that mean Prasidh wasn’t suited to the [prevailing conditions in South Africa? The answer to that is probably no. Just that the tall pace bowler seemed to have little idea of how to set up a batter in South Africa. And when South Africa’s batters took the aggressive route, he crumbled under pressure.
Despite a few bottlenecks, India have unearthed a couple of potential batting mainstays during the transition phase. Yashasvi Jaiswal has already notched up two double tons and failed in only one innings in the Test series so far. Even when the track in Ranchi was staying low, Jaiswal aimed to upset the spinners’ length by chipping down the deck. It wasn’t easy as Shoaib Bashir in particular had settled into an excellent rhythm, but Jaiswal was always trying to make things happen.
Also Read:Bashir hurts India on tricky Ranchi pitch
Sarfaraz Khan, who composed a couple of fifties in the Rajkot Test, also has displayed plenty of self-belief. His batting is quite unorthodox. Although that helps him irritate the opponents by targeting unusual areas in the field. Sarfaraz will face sterner tests in different climes, but the Indian management would be pleased with his progress.The other positive sign for the Indian camp is Dhruv Jurel. The ‘keeper-batter seems to have the required temperament to play at the highest level.
Then there is the curious case of Rajat Patidar, the Madhya Pradesh batter. In domestic cricket, Patidar plays with a touch of swagger. His game is based on playing a range of shots. Unfortunately, his confidence seems shot at the moment, having accumulated a mere 63 runs in five innings. The second innings in Ranchi could very well be a make or break kind of situation for the talented batter.
Whatever the result of the fourth Test, India have some testing times ahead. Not just a few losses could be on the way, but the Indian Test team is set to have an unsettled look in the near future, with different permutations and combinations being tried out by the selectors.
For more sports news click here