CHENNAI: A third-choice opener, a middle-order batsman, a second wicketkeeper. These are expected to be the talking points with regards to the Test team, which will be announced on Sunday along with the limited-overs squads for the tour of Caribbean next month. While, all eyes are on how the composition of the white-ball sides look, against the backdrop of the World Cup exit and speculation regarding the future of MS Dhoni, the Test team too needs to address a few issues.
With Prithvi Shaw not making it to the A tour of West Indies, it is understood the chances of him making it to the Caribbean with the national side for the series that kickstarts India’s ICC Test Championship also looks bleak. This opens the door for one of Gujarat’s Priyank Panchal and Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran. Panchal has been one of the most consistent openers in the domestic circuit and has been with India A too.
In the A series against Sri Lanka at home, he slammed 160 following an excellent Ranji campaign where he tallied 898 runs in 17 innings. In the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy, he topped the runs tally with 1,310 runs in 17 innings. Known to have built his game on strong technique, he has shown a penchant to occupy the crease for long. At 29, he is at the peak of his career and has the experience of playing first-class cricket for a decade. Challenging him for the spot could be Easwaran.
At 23, he is seen as one of the most talented youngsters in Bengal and in 46 first-class fixtures, he averages 51.42. Like Panchal, he too has had a good run of scores in the lead up to the selection, including two double tons, the latest of them being 233 against Sri Lanka A. In the same match Panchal scored 160. While he has been touted as one for the future, especially given how he has played on the lively tracks of Eden Gardens, he is still fresh to the A side.
With No 3 and No 4 being taken care of by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, it would be interesting to see how far India’s patience with Ajinkya Rahane goes. The Mumbaikar, despite playing crucial knocks against Australia Down Under, has not made a century in 29 innings. In the time India were playing World Cup, he was turning out for Hampshire in County Championship. While he scored a ton on his debut, he has crossed 50 only once in the 11 innings that followed and has failed to get off the mark in three of those. While Hanuma Vihari is there as back-up, the selectors might be pondering over investing elsewhere.
The tour, is likely to see the return of Wriddhiman Saha, who hasn’t played a Test since the 2018 New Year’s Test in Cape Town. A string of injuries sidelined him for almost all of 2018. Since he is included in India A’s tour of Caribbean, he is likely make the Test squad too. But giving him competition could be Srikar Bharat, who is equipped with the gloves. Like the rest of his peers, he too has been part of the A-team set up and can even open the batting if required.