CHENNAI: Rohit Sharma or Ajinkya Rahane? It was one of the debates during the South Africa tour. Whichever way you sided with, there was no denying that the latter was clearly the better suited for the longer format.
This was also the most frequently asked question to captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri during that tour earlier this year. In fact, it was the question that even led to the skipper losing his cool after the Centurion Test. During that interaction with the media, one of Kohli’s give-aways was how the team wants to look at the India A team, for players who can make the side stronger. He even revealed how the team management and selectors have to identify areas that need improvement for tough overseas assignments.
Almost three months later and nearly three months ahead of their next massive challenge, a Test tour of England, it seems the Indian team has identified areas that need attention if they are to challenge the best in their own backyard. Though it will be harsh to blame Rohit for the series loss in South Africa, India were definitely handicapped in the absence of Rahane.
As the national selectors named the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan to be played in Benglauru next month, the most notable absence apart from Kohli was Rohit. Though the selectors didn’t mention the word ‘rested’ — which is their rescue word — for Rohit’s omission, it at least sheds light on how they are looking ahead. They have handed a comeback to Karun Nair, who will return to the Test side after more than a year. “This was the best opportunity for us to give Karun a chance because he’s been doing well,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said without elaborating much.
So where does this leave Rohit? You can’t completely rule him out. With the limited-over leg preceding the Test series in England, a string of big scores might put him back in the mix for the challenge in whites. Though there is a world of difference between white and red-ball cricket, this team has shown time and again that it values form as more important when it comes to selection. But having learned their lessons in South Africa, a repeat of it in England would show them as too naive. Perhaps, the team is now looking beyond Rohit, whose numbers have never done justice to his abilities.
If Rohit is missing from the Test side, the ODI squad for England has no place for Rahane. After leading the team against Afghanistan, the vice-captain will not have any long-format match practice before the England Tests. After being spoken about as the designated No 4 for India in ODIs during the South
Africa tour, Rahane has now been dropped.
Like Rohit’s absence from the Test side, this too seems a call taken keeping the future, especially the World Cup next year, in mind. And instead of wasting a slot, they have gone for Shreyas Iyer and Dinesh Karthik, two players who could be used anywhere in the line-up. And with KL Rahul also in the mix, the door seems to have been shut for Rahane, as far as the shorter formats are concerned.
Afghanistan Test: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur.
T20Is against Ireland and England: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com