CHENNAI: Rory Burns. Dom Sibley. Zak Crawley. They have a combined experience of 45 Tests. Among the three only two — Sibley and Crawley — have experience of playing in the sub-continent. In the four innings they had in Sri Lanka in the last couple of weeks, their total tally was 97, with Sibley's unbeaten 56 being the highest.
During the second Test in Galle, the stump mics picked up Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella asking Sibley, 'Are you going to open in India?' If that was a cheeky quip, Sibley's response said a thing or two, 'Don't know. I haven't had a very good series'.
But all that he needs to do is take a look at England's squad. Despite his struggles against spinners, England have arrived in Chennai with none of their openers having any experience of playing in India. For all you know, the trio could well be their top 3 unless they promote Joe Root and retain Dan Lawrence in the middle-order. For a team that sends its A team (England Lions) regularly to this part of the world, none of these three came here in 2019. That is a surprise, considering the fact they brought Ben Duckett — a batsman who found spinners hard to decode.
It could be argued that Crawley and Sibley made it to the England squad after several others failed to fill in the hole left vacant by the retirement of Alastair Cook. But on a tour where the likes of Jonny Bairstow (first two Tests) and Jos Buttler (last three Tests) are going to be rested, the responsibility on Root and Ben Stokes only increases many fold. It is hard to remember a top team like England arriving in India with their openers having no prior experience of playing in these conditions. They will be further handicapped with the fact that apart from Burns, the other two will only get three days to practice before the first Test starting on February 5. Since the trio of Burns, Stokes and Jofra Archer arrived early, they can begin training from Sunday.
“It is obviously a challenge, isn't it? You know that is not much we can do about that schedule, it is what is placed in front of yourself and you waste time thinking about that and it is not going to be (beneficial). We have got three days now to put in our work and try and get used to conditions here on what we are going to face. It is just a mental switch really, like we saw Sibley's from innings one to innings two in that last Test in Sri Lanka,” Burns said.
Between the three, Burns has shown the character to fight. Built more in Dean Elgar's mode, he can scratch his way in the middle and do the dirty job of blunting the new ball and setting up a platform for Root and Stokes. But it is easier said than done. Apart from having a strong spin department, India are also lethal with the new ball, meaning visiting batsmen get hardly any breathing space. “It (opening) is really tough place to bat, and like I say, the role of Test opener might change and might be how deep you can get it, so the middle-order can cash in,” Burns added.