Let us take a look at India’s batting prospects ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia. Rohit Sharma, Shubhman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are expected to form the top five. All of them have played in England. Some have played quite a few matches and others not as many. If one looks at how they have fared collectively and over a period of time, the numbers are not great. Let us see how they have done so far.
Rohit Sharma (6 matches, 466 runs, average 42.36, 1 century): He has done rather well in England as an opener. Scored a crucial century under trying circumstances. Actually, he belied expectations and delivered. That innings of 127 at The Oval in 2021 — where the WTC final will be played from June 7 — established him as a Test opener. He also made valuable contributions in other matches in that series. So his credentials as an opening batter in English conditions are quite strong on paper. In a one-off Test, stats may not matter, but Rohit is going to be one of India’s better bets with the bat.
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Shubhman Gill (2 matches, 57 runs, average 14.25): Nothing to write home about. The batter in supreme form has not done well in England, be it against England or New Zealand. He has done well on the hard pitches in Australia, but his skills against the swinging ball in England are not established. A certainty for the opener’s slot because of his recent exploits across formats, Gill remains an unknown quantity in conditions where he is yet to prove himself. When the ball moves in the air, a lot of equations change for a batter. This is something Gill has to combat, to prove that he is an all-conditions batter.
Chetweshwar Pujara (15 matches, 829 runs, average 29.60, 1 century): His form with the bat in the County Championship for Sussex is quite phenomenal. He has scored centuries most of the times he has gone out to bat. But his Test performance in England is quite ordinary, even below that. This is one territory he has not been able to conquer, which is evident from the stats. On the positive side, he did decently with a reasonable amount of consistency during his last few Tests in England. He did not get big scores, but contributed. That experience and his success in the County Championship make Pujara India’s brightest hope when it comes to batting. He is well-acclimatised because he is playing in England. Now is the time for him to deliver that telling knock in the big game.
Virat Kohli (16 matches, 1033 runs, average 33.32, 2 centuries): This is again a very unflattering record, way below his personal best. After a disastrous tour of 2014 when James Anderson made him his bunny, Kohli came back stronger in 2018. He played the odd effective innings in 2021 as well, but that was not completely convincing. With a big match coming up and as India’s principal batter, one would expect a lot more from him. Truth be told, stats show that England is certainly not Kohli’s best touring place. He has clearly struggled against the movement in the air and outside off stump. That channel has tested him with unkind results. But the fact is, he is India’s most celebrated batter among the current lot. Let us hope he copes with the conditions this time.
Ajinkya Rahane (15 matches, 729 runs, average 26.03, 1 century): After a commendable first tour of England in 2014, he has not really lived up to what he promised. His subsequent tours have been very mediocre and this time, he faces a big test. The Aussies know he can be a tough cookie. They have first-hand experience of that, MCG 2021 being an example. But Rahane has also had his problems against the wobbling ball. Be sure, the Australian pace trio will go into this match fully aware of it. There will be tough questions asked. Whether Rahane has enough fire in his belly for one more cavalier effort is something Indian cricket fans will eagerly look out for.
The rest: This could be Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat, Shardul Thakur or may be even Axar Patel. Other than Jadeja, no one has a decent enough record batting in England. So the onus will very much be on the top five. And if one sees the numbers over the years, none of them are convincing, other than Rohit’s. We’re not saying that India’s batting will stumble at The Oval, but they face the sternest of tests.