CHENNAI: Ahead of Gautam Gambhir's first match as coach of the Test team, he questioned India's obsession with developing a fast-bowling all-rounder. "We have been talking since Kapil Dev's time that we don't have a fast-bowling all-rounder," he said on the eve of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai last September. "If we don't have it, we don't have it. If we have it, he has to got to develop in first-class cricket."
In the 14 months since, India not only handed a debut to Nitish Reddy but also played Shardul Thakur ahead of the genuine wicket-takers in different conditions. In essence, the team management disregarded the coach's own advice.
Last month, Reddy played both Tests against West Indies at home when he wouldn't necessarily have been a part of the first XI. But the management wanted to groom him for tougher Tests overseas. Before the second game in Delhi, Ryan ten Doeschate had said: "One of the sort of medium-term objectives is to develop a seam-bowling all-rounder for India, because it's very important when we go away on tours that we have that position covered.
"We didn't get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it's a very good opportunity to give Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team." Across the two matches, he bowled 24 legitimate balls.
Since the time Gambhir has been in the post, the team's pivot to an all-rounder heavy side is hard to miss. In the 18 Tests they have played since Gambhir took over from Dravid, Washington Sundar has gained prominence, a third spinning all-rounder is being preferred to a third seamer (he began with three seamers and two spinners but changed his preference two Tests in) and a wicket-keeper (if you want to consider them all-rounders) is being asked to carry the role of specialist batter while players selected as specialist batters carry the drinks.
Some of those changes have some merit. Post the R Ashwin-sized hole in the team, Washington has somewhat filled that gap. In the New Zealand series last year, he consistently challenged both edges and showed the damage he was capable of doing. In Kolkata, he bowled out six legitimate balls across two innings on a pitch where the opposition's primary right-arm finger spinner won the Player of the Match.
Stacking a side with all-rounders has also led to a borderline absurd workload for Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, two elite pacers India has. Since last September, Siraj has sent down 477.5 overs in 17 games. Bumrah? 436.5 in 16. They are also the only two speedsters among bowlers to have sent down the most number of overs in the time period. The next pacer is Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani with 327.4.
Some of it is down to a Test schedule that has seen them play two five-Test tours away from home. But even in those series, both of those bowlers were surrounded by all-rounders who weren't trusted to do a job. Thakur bowled 27 overs across three innings, Reddy sent down 76 in 13 innings (for context, Joe Root has bowled 81.1 in 15) and Washington has bowled 229 in 20 innings. Jadeja is second in the list with 444.5 in 29 innings but he's their lead spinner in these conditions so he's sharing the majority of the workload with Bumrah and Siraj.
But fielding a side heavy on all-rounders is having a two-pronged negative effect on this team. One, overbowling Siraj and Bumrah because, for all intents on purposes, they are the only all-terrain strike bowlers in this team. Two, not maximising the wicket-taking abilities of the other strike bowlers.
This once again is not what this team and this management had promised. Both Gambhir and new captain, Shubman Gill, had said they would prioritise the quickest route to 20 wickets. Yet, their words have consistently not aligned with their actions and words are nothing without actions. All-rounders come in very different shapes and sizes and a lot of them contribute in many ways. India's insistence on playing all-rounder heavy sides have shown that it can lift the ceiling of the team. Washington (with bat and ball) and Reddy (with the bat) have shown the positives. But the negatives, one can argue, outweigh the positives.
On Wednesday, three days out from second Test in Guwahati, Reddy, as per the original plan, rejoined the squad. He may well come into the XI. It would be a timely reminder of Gambhir's press conference in Chennai ahead of the Bangladesh Test last year.