-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
A marquee Test series coming up on which hinges India’s chances of making it to the World Test Championship final. All eyes on the build-up to the 50-over World Cup coming up later this year in India as well. In between, a T20 series? Is that not rather irrelevant?
Yes it is. Surely, because the next World Cup in the T20 format is still some 20-21 months away. Before that, a lot of things will happen in the other formats. Those will have a more immediate bearing on what concerns the players, sponsors, fans and other stake holders. Who is bothered about T20 at the moment barring the hardcore IPL fanatics or franchises? Right?
Wrong, because of a few reasons. In whichever format one looks at the Indian team at the moment, the wicketkeeper’s position is of pivotal importance. The one India had banked on and invested in is out for an uncertain period. Nobody can say for sure when Rishabh Pant will be back. A massive influence on the Test side with his match-turning efforts in different conditions, he was a pillar of strength for India in that version. Not that he was a negligible entity in the shorter formats either.
With Pant ruled out for the time being and Wriddhiman Saha not deemed that good enough because of his batting skills, eyes are on Ishan Kishan and Srikar Bharat. The former plays for Jharkhand in the domestic circuit and is already a household name in IPL and ODIs, partially due to that double century against Bangladesh. Bharat of Andhra is no mug mind you, he has scored big in the first-class circuit for a few seasons and his exploits include a triple century at that level.
But since Kishan is getting the upper hand at the moment and is seen as a like for like replacement for Pant, the focus is on him. A dasher with the bat who has the guts to attack the bowlers, he is touted as one for the future. Cocky, fearless and someone who does not care about reputations of the bowlers, he is billed as one to look forward to.
Cut back to the present and this can be a very different reality. What has Kishan done of late other than that maverick double century against Bangladesh in an inconsequential ODI last December? After that knock, he has played seven more internationals with an highest score of 37, did not cross 20 even once other that one occasion against Sri Lanka in a T20 outing. More than the lack of runs, the manner of his dismissals is prompting people to ask questions.
Be it the quick bowlers or slow, this left-handed talented player from MS Dhoni’s state has succumbed to the moving ball in different manners. Be it the darting ones from pacers or the ones that turn against his expectations from the spinners, Kishan has fallen early in a number of ways. The latest example being the clean bowled instance against Michael Bracewell in the T20 against New Zealand in Ranchi. He had no clue how to negotiate that delivery.
Can he withstand the pressures or display the skills required against an attack in a Test series against an attack comprising the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon or Mitchell Starc and Ashton Agar? This question will be getting louder and louder as the first Test against Australia beginning in Nagpur on February 9 comes closer. One has to be compact in defence in order to succeed in Test cricket. Nonchalance or disregard for bowlers will not be enough.
In Test cricket, bowlers will target and harp on your weaknesses more regularly and consistently than in the limited-over versions. They will probe and spot a frailty and keep working on that. Once that has been identified and established, a team like Australia will be relentless. There will be mind games as well and each failure will compound the vulnerability of a batter. Can Kishan take that?
Going by the immediate examples, the answer cannot be in the affirmative. It’s one thing to grab eyeballs in white-ball cricket and become a poster boy. It’s different to possess the skills that makes one successful in Test cricket. Despite being a top-order batter, Kishan averages around 38 in first-class cricket. He is talented and has a lot of potential. Can he translate that into something bigger?
Being impetuous or impulsive will not help. Mere bravado may not be enough against a determined and quality opposition that is known for doing its homework to the very minute of details. It will take a lot of technical adroitness and temperamental maturity to withstand these rigours. At the moment, Kishan seems to have some inadequacies and these could not have surfaced at a worse time for Indian cricket. Will it be Bharat or him? Not that a lot of it is remaining, but time will tell.