Speculation is a favourite pastime of the great Indian cricket fraternity. This encompasses activities of the selectors, team management, the board that governs and, of course, we the people. This becomes rife in the times of crises. The graver the situation, the bigger the clamour – who, when, what, why, why not!
As the second India-England Test in Visakhapatnam comes closer, louder are the murmurs. India, unbelievably 1-0 down after the first match of the five-Test series, have Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul out of the second Test due to injuries. No Virat Kohli. How many reinforcements then?
Two changes are obvious. Kuldeep Yadav for Jadeja. And when it comes to supplanting Rahul, it should be Rajat Patidar. The Madhya Pradesh batter was in the squad for the first Test as Kohli’s replacement. Natural law of progression demands that he be in the XI once Rahul is not there. Sarfaraz Khan has a first-class average of close to 70. He is an able and emergency inclusion in the squad. But the pecking order says it must be Patidar.
There shouldn’t be much doubt about Kuldeep. Jadeja is one of India’s most reliable wicket-taking bowlers, who took five in the series-opener. When he is out, then must cometh another who can pluck wickets. Kuldeep is obviously the one. He found himself out of the XI after turning in a Player of the Match performance in his last Test appearance in Bangladesh in the winter of 2022.
But is that it? This where the questions begin. Jadeja can’t be replaced with one player. The left-handed all-rounder is two players in the form of one, who made India’s highest score of 87 in the Hyderabad heartbreak. If he goes missing, this team has to look for two players as his replacement.
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The Indian team arrives in Vizag with four playing XI regulars unavailable for the 2nd #INDvsENG test. Can the Men in Blue bounce back in Vizag?@debasissen & @atreyom from Vizag#INDvsENG #RohitSharma #IndianCricket pic.twitter.com/aprRnFl6WR
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) January 30, 2024
And that begs the question, should Mohammed Siraj make way for someone who can potentially make a bigger contribution with the bat? India have been following a principle of having five specialist bowlers for some time. This philosophy saw the team reach the World Test Championship final in two successive terms and bore fruit well before that.
But should the team be rigid in sticking to that principle? No, perhaps. Someone like Sarfaraz or Washington Sundar should play in place of that second seamer, who had precious little to do in the first Test. Siraj bowled a total of 11 overs in the first Test without taking a wicket. No reason to be harsh on him because he is a gun bowler. Having said that, he was a silent gun in Hyderabad.
That’s why talk of the inclusion of an additional batter in the place of Siraj holds water. Let it be an emergency arrangement, no need to stick to this for ever after. If Patidar gets the nod ahead of Sarfaraz, then get the latter in the XI to bolster a batting line-up which is low on confidence. One can also look at Washington Sundar, who has three fifties in six Test innings.
This makes way for a dilemma. You don’t have the players you want and yet, have to get in the suitable replacements when the chips are down. Patidar, Kuldeep are the logical ones. Who after that because Jadeja isn’t there? Sarfaraz or Washington? Or stick to Siraj and give him a longer rope?
The answer to this might hold the key to India’s quest for a severely-needed win.
Also Read: Brendon McCullum: Shoaib Bashir comes into calculations for the next Test