CHENNAI: After those three odd days of Test cricket at Lord’s, August may now seem like January for the average India fan. Inexplicable inclusions and exclusions in their playing XI. Veteran seam bowlers cutting through their batting lineup like a hot knife through a brick of butter. Virat Kohli ploughing a lone furrow. Two losses. A lot of water may have flown under the bridge over the six months or so that has elapsed since. But that tour of South Africa could very well serve as the “mirror” India’s skipper had referred to after their Birmingham ignominy, especially in one particular context: acclimatising to conditions.
“It’s obvious that playing with the red ball in England is going to a be different challenge altogether,” remarks Ajit Wadekar, the man who had led India to their first series win in the Old Blighty in 1971. Not so surprisingly, the former India batsman had been very vocal about India not familiarising themselves with conditions in South Africa after that series in January had been lost. And, on Monday, he ascribed that same factor to India’s current downward spiral on English shores. “They should have used their time better to get used to the conditions down there.
That’s obviously cost them.” Wadekar’s observation refers to the eight-day gap which India players had at their disposal after the completion of the ODI leg of their England tour. “Instead of taking a break, that time could have been better spent by the players to get a grip on what they would eventually come to face.” Even in a larger context, the only two links that connect the A tour of England that commenced in June after that one-off Test against Afghanistan and this current series were seen sitting with earphones plugged in in the balconies of the dressing rooms at both Edgbaston and Lord’s: Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant. Although Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma did go through their respective county-stint rigours, and Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane did make an appearance during India A’s single unofficial Test against England Lions, the end results of the first two Tests do resonate with Wadekar’s reasoning.
Three days against an Essex XI in Chelmsford may perhaps have not been enough to decipher — or come close to it — the swing-bowling wiles of James Anderson and his lieutenants. “The Cricket Advisory Committee could perhaps have been consulted for planning out the itinerary for that period,” added Wadekar. That apart, Wadekar also touched upon the constant chopping and changing that India’s final XI has been witness to over the last 37 Tests with Kohli as skipper.
If Ajinkya Rahane’s warming of the benches for letting Rohit Sharma step out on the field had proven to be a huge opportunity cost during India’s tour of South Africa, this sojourn too has seen its fair share of spilt milk so far. If it took them a 31-run loss to realise that Shikhar Dhawan may not have been the best choice — in terms of technique — to combat the seaming conditions that lay in store, then an innings defeat — the first under Kohli, for that matter — should have been one loud wake-up call to discern that Hardik Pandya may not serve as the candidate for a team’s designated first-change speedster.
That, and being stranded with two spinners in dank conditions that were making seam bowlers look like fire-spitting chimeras. “Although the captain is the one who gets the chance to select who’s finally going to step out in the middle, the think-tank should also step in and be critical if the situation demands it. That’s the best way to foster more creative selection policies, apart from helping both the captain and the team evolve.” rahul.ravi@newindianexpress.com