The second edition of World Test Championship concluded on Day 5 as Australia triumphed in the final at the Kennington Oval with India being bowled out for 209 in the second innings. Indian top order is the biggest issue?
Scott Boland bagged two of Indian top order batter known as the big fish, Shubhman Gill and Virat Kohli. While Shubhman Gill’s wicket stands firm as a Richard Kettleborough disaster, Virat Kohli’s needless shot selection costed him his wicket on 49 runs as the ball edged and was thwarted by Steve Smith’s brilliance. Ravindra Jadeja was scott Boland’s final wicket ending India’s hopes for the silverware. Aussie off-spinner Nathan Lyon remains the star of the show bagging four wickets for just 41 runs in 15.4 overs.
The Indian top order has to share the blame for this lose alongside the Team Management committee. Primarily, not including Ravichandran Ashwin in the team for the World Test Championship Final is that one topic that has been in the buzz since Day 1. Then comes the Indian top-order and their questionable consistency in Tests. In the first innings. The Indian top-order collapsed owing to the pace and swing of the Aussie seamers and some needless shot selections. Now, what could have the reason for this collective failure? let’s look at some of the key pointers.
The Indian top order batsmen when playing in the SENA countries, their mindset plays the deciding factor. When in the sub-continent, they have to reach out for the ball but in SENA countries the ball reaches out for them first. Players who usually play in the sub-continent should first look out for staying on the wicket for as long as possible and wait for the ball to lose its shine.
Infact in case of the Duke ball, it takes a bit longer because it has got a thicker coating of paint when comapred to other balls. None of the batsmen from India played with that kind of mindset. They were looking out to score runs. This strategic error from the Indian top-order costed them the championship for a second time. The Indian bowlers even made a good comeback in the second innings but the batsman couldn’t get the job done.
Nathan Lyon’s clever bowling trapped Indian top order batter Rohit Sharma in the second innings. A tempting attempt to play the sweep shot and failiing at it costed the Indian skipper, his wicket. Nathan Lyon had strategically set him up to make him play that shot because he loves to. For the line and length of the ball, a classic front-foot defense should have been the only possible option in this regard. When it comes to Virat Kohli’s wicket, once again, Scott Boland set him up.
A couple of in-swinging deliveries followed by an out-swinging one but Indian top order Virat Kohli shouldn’t have gone for the cover drive at that moment in time when the whole team was dependent upon his and Ajinkya Rahane’s partnership. A ball that was pitched way outside off, the former Indian captain shouldn’t have offered a shot. Leaving it would have been a safe option.
The line of the ball was wide enough to reach out in time, it was quite astonishing to see why he went for that ball. Though it’s not the first time we have seen something like this happening with an Indian batter. In the past, we have seen Sachin Tendulkar make similar kind of mistake during India’s tour of Australia in 2003/04 before his SCG special of 241 runs.
The most crucuial factor for the Indian team as it stands is the no. 3 position. It’s high time that the Team Selection Committee start looking for a new batsamn to bat at no. 3. Cheteshwar Pujara has been a regular no. 3 batter in Test cricket for a quite long time now. a defensive batsamn by nature, hopes were high from to him as he was expected to stand out and stay on the crease for a longer time but he failed to make a mark of his own. In the second innings, playing a shot that is way out of his vicinty was awestrucking and disappointing at the same time.
In fact, when all the other players of the team were playing in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League, Pujara was playing in the English County. When others players had to adapt themselves to the English conditions, Pujara was already familiar yet he couldn’t produce any results. This is the second time he couldnt’t get runs through his bat. Before it was in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There are a few potential replacments to look at for the 35-years old Saurashtra cricketer.
1) Suryakumar Yadav
Currently the no. 1 T20I batsman, Suryakumar Yadav could be a potential replacement for Cheteshwar Pujara. The 32-years old cricketer regained his form during the Indian Premeir League after a streak of low scores. An unorthodox, brute batsman like can be India’s trump card in test specially when it comes to trails. We have also seen that he is a potentially successful cricketer in SENA countries and for that reason, he could be a choice atleast for next four to five years.
2) Hanuma Vihari
He was last featured in the Birmingham test between India and England earlier this year. He was praised for his batting against Australia in the Sydney test on Day 5 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21. A defensive batsman who is confident and strong with his defenses can be an ideal replacement for Cheteshwar Pujara.
3) Ruturaj Gaikwad
If India is looking out for a potential long term player who ia technically perfect then it has to be Ruturaj Gaikwad. After Shubhman Gill, he is undoubtedly the next big thing in Indian cricket. In IPL this season, he had scored 590 runs in 16 matches with an average of 42.14. He has proved himself as a player who can excel under pressure. For a player like him who possesses a Radical batting style, batting at no. 3 can bear momentous results for the Indian Cricket Team.
4) Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has been that one player who has always excelled whenever given an opportunity to. A technically strong, radical, and experienced batsman like Shreyas eventually deserves a place for himself in the Test team.