One day during his last Test appearance, against the West Indies in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar was watching from behind the nets. The batters were having practice sessions — Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in adjacent nets at Wankhede. The retiring master was looking at the crop he was leaving behind. They were to travel to South Africa soon.
That was the end of the transition phase and a new beginning. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had called it a day in 2011, and up against Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were batters who, at that point in time, had little collective experience of playing Test cricket abroad. India lost a few away series on the trot, but this bunch showed promise. Gradually, with significant help from the bowlers, they went on to help the team top the Test rankings and stay there for a while.
Announcement that calls for urgent huddle
As Kohli’s retirement brought the curtains down on this generation that valued Test cricket and contributed to India’s cause in memorable triumphs, the flag-bearer was in no position to survey what he was leaving behind. It appeared to be an unplanned move, something that the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar and chief coach Gautam Gambhir will have to address now. The squad for England is to be announced any time, and there is no No. 4 in sight.
The situation is worse than when Kohli, Pujara, Rahane and Murali Vijay gave a good account of themselves in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England. Everywhere was a first for somebody or the other. Nobody knew how they would cope, but at least the options were known. The selectors, headed then by Sandeep Patil, had seen the resources over a few seasons and were clear in their minds who to pick. That is the difference between then and now.
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No team management, no quick fix either
A strong contender for a reserve opener expected to get a look-in at some point during the five Tests in England, Sai Sudharsan is suddenly being spoken of as the biggest hope at No. 3. Going by opinion polls, Shubman Gill is the new No. 4. After that, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, and so on. In the absence of a captain following Rohit’s retirement, there is not even a team management in place at the moment. Forget the batting order: finding names has suddenly become a challenge in itself.
The players mentioned, along with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, will feature in the XI in England, even if only for a few Tests and not all five. The problem is, none barring one or two inspire confidence in shouldering the batting in those conditions. Some of them would even have been among the back-ups had the two seniors not quit abruptly. Once the reserves become central characters, there is little left in the reserve. On a long tour of England, every team needs solid batting options and able replacements. India appear scarily thin on both counts.
Had this series taken place in India, as it did in 2024, Agarkar, Gambhir and company could have tried out a lot of players. Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Dhruv Jurel made their debut in that series, when Kohli was unavailable and Rahul got injured after the first Test. Barring Patidar, all of them made runs. The situation changed completely in Australia a few months later. Although England poses a different test, batting-wise India are a touch poorer than six months ago.
Nair likely option, but no Pujara or Rahane?
The situation is bound to spark debate over whether Pujara or Rahane, or both, should be brought back. They are active in first-class cricket and, even if not by the truckloads, are making runs. However, the selectors and the previous Indian team management had decided against looking back as far as these two are concerned. Karun Nair is more likely because of the volume of runs he made in domestic cricket. Beyond him, there are no real options other than those already discussed. That Nair has never played abroad shows what India can take to England to counter their seamers.
The other side of the story, of course, is the opportunity for youngsters. Two, if not more, batters will gain the experience of playing in England. In future, India will depend on some from this lot. Those who saw the immediate post-Tendulkar era were not very hopeful initially. There was a spark, which took time to become a flame. The feeling is different this time. It is not a ‘sinking feeling’ yet. But, in terms of the future of India’s Test batting, there are no strong vibes either.
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