As he pads up for his first Test as captain at home, Virat Kohli has quite a few questions staring at him. The critical one being the kind of team combination he would want to field in the first of the four Tests, at Mohali, against South Africa, the No 1 team in the world. The answer to this complex riddle isn’t easy, but if cracked, it could well be the formula applied to avenge the humiliation the tourists have heaped on India by winning the T20 and ODI series.
The main problem for Kohli starts right at the top. There are three, or probably four claimants for the opening slot. While it is most likely that Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay would walk out to start the innings, the former’s woes in the ODI series, in which he managed just 126 runs in five games at 25.20, would not be lost on the captain. Dhawan has slammed hundreds in his last two Tests (against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), but make no mistake, the dashing left-hander would be under extreme pressure to retain his place in the side, especially if he fails and India go on to lose the first Test. However, it would be a risky prediction to expect a class batsman like him to keep failing. The southpaw needs an injection of faith and inspiration. Perhaps a return to the venue where he made a dream Test debut (187 vs Australia in March, 2013) may just provide that.
Keeping Dhawan on his toes would be competition in the form of KL Rahul. The youngster has already slammed a couple of hundreds in his nascent career so far, though the way he got out in the last Test against Lanka at the SSC (bowled while shouldering arms to incoming deliveries) left a lot to be desired. “Dhawan should at least get one Test to prove his form,” former India opener Chetan Chauhan told TOI on Sunday .
The other big conundrum revolves around Cheteshwar Pujara and to an extent, Rohit Sharma. It would be impossible to ignore the technically-correct Pujara, especially after his match-winning 145* against Sri Lanka at SSC helped India to clinch the Test series in August. The fact that he did so while opening the innings provides another tempting option to Kohli for that slot, though the No 3 position, which he occupied for the first couple of years of his career with much success before losing form, looks tailor-made for him.
Rohit has been inconsistent in whatever Tests he has played in so far, but there is a case for the gifted Mumbaikar to be somehow fitted in, at least at No 6, considering how comfortable and dominating he has looked in the T20 and ODI series against this attack. He scored two hundreds against South Africa on this tour so far and is now familiar with the attack. “It is an interesting situation,” quipped former India wicketkeeper and chief selector Kiran More, while talking about the dilemma ahead of the Indian team management.
There is a case for Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion too. On a comeback trail, the left-arm spinner has been deadly on the turning pitch of Rajkot, having taken a whopping 37 wickets in three Ranji Trophy games. If curator Daljit Singh does manage to churn out a rank turner, Jadeja can count himself in for sure. With star off-spinner R Ashwin still not having recovered completely from a side strain and Amit Mishra entangled in off-the-field issues, India may just end up banking on the Saurashtra allrounder to provide some much-needed spark to the attack.
However, will he be as effective in Mohali as he has been at Rajkot? Is there room for him if Kohli decides to play only two spinners, or only four bowlers instead of five? “I’ll prefer Mishra (over Jadeja), since he’s a specialist bowler, who’ll pick wickets and win you the Test,” former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar noted.
“Rohit will have to miss out if India play five bowlers, while Jadeja could be benched if they field four,” agreed Chauhan. More, however, feels that it is Mishra who would get the axe in that case. “Unless they prepare a really dry pitch, India are likely to play two spinners and not three. I’d pick Jadeja, instead of Mishra to partner Ashwin in that scenario,” he said.
Jadeja has notched up terrific performances in the past. The 26-year-old took 24 wickets at a brilliant average of 17.45 to demolish Michael Clarke’s Aussies in 2013. However, it remains to be seen if Kohli shows the same faith in this tweaker as his predecessor MS Dhoni did. At the moment, Kohli seems to be enjoying a fabulous equation with Mishra, who made a successful comeback to the Test team when he scalped 15 wickets in three Tests in Lanka.
If they do manage to find the ideal combination, Kohli and team director Ravi Shastri may just have drawn up the perfect ‘blueprint’.
