CHENNAI: By the time the dawn breaks in India on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma and Co will be at the Adelaide Oval. Except, it will not be for the fifth day of the second Test against Australia — which is what it was supposed to be. Instead, they would be trying to answer some tough questions after the ten-wicket hammering they got here on Sunday during an intense training session in the first half of the day.
Less than a week ago, they were ecstatic. A victory in Perth, led by Jasprit Bumrah, after the historic home series defeat should have given them a lot of confidence. However, it all seems to be back to square one in Adelaide. And it is only an indication of the underlying issues that go deeper than the results.
The first among them is whether Rohit Sharma should have batted in the middle-order. When he said that he was pushing himself down, it was a pragmatic decision not just for the team with a long-term viewpoint, but also an admission of his drop in form over the last two series. It was a gamble, a rather big one he took, but didn't work. Instead, it only brought him under more scrutiny and his long standing issue with the moving ball.
What was the alternative then? One of them was Rohit opening and Rahul batting at No 3 after his top-order success, with Shubman Gill going down to No 5. It looks good on paper, but perhaps the team management did not want to move Gill up and down after the youngster asked to bat at No 3 and had his best year yet in the longest format. Altering his position might not have done much good.
So, Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir went in with what was their best batting line-up and best spinner and yet fell flat. While there is no reneging on the fact that it was the batters who lost the match in Adelaide, there are some other issues as well. Take the case of Harshit Rana. Now, the youngster has impressed on debut and one should not pin the loss on the pacer.
However, there were signs even in Perth. Rana losing steam after a long spell, his fitness for back-to-back Tests is something the team management should have been aware of. To not play Akash Deep — who has the action that is similar to Mohammed Shami, is fitter than Rana and even perhaps Siraj and can run in all day — was a blunder on their part. It cost them dearly as Bumrah could not carry the load all alone. "We are not just playing with one bowler. There are other bowlers also who will have to take responsibility and get the job done for the team, be it Siraj, Rana, Nitish Reddy, Akash Deep or Prasidh (Krishna)," Rohit had said.
Now, these are just tactical calls. Then there are the technical issues with the batters which Australia exploited in Adelaide. Virat Kohli's off-stump, Gill's incoming delivery, Rishabh Pant's tentative line, and so on. From 10 AM Adelaide time on Tuesday, India would be looking to find some solutions, at least makeshift, before the next Test in Brisbane on Saturday.