Professor Pattu | Avijit Das Patnaik
India have landed in Australia with a starting XI having more international runs, wickets, catches and experience than their counterparts. The only area where the host XI outpowers them would be fielding. Even in exposure to tough situations, sledging and other forms of 'mental disintegration', the visitors have a bigger legacy than the host team. It's not without reason that Adam Gilchrist and a few other pundits feel this is India's best chance to win Down Under.
But can India win the four-match series? Continue reading below
When I pen the first XI due to take strike in Melbourne on Boxing Day, the feeling is that we should win this series. The doubts start creeping when the memories of the English tour start to haunt. Can the starting XI last the distance? How many injuries can we potentially handle? Do we have the right backup?
Similar to our summer woes, the rate of injury remains at one per week. It re-surfaced once the team was announced. Ok, Bhajji wasn't supposed to tour, but Praveen Kumar was due to start and Varun Aaron's presence in the squad would have given MS Dhoni more options.
At this drop-out rate, the higher the probability is that we will need replacements to fly down midway during the tour. The lower probability is, though, that the BCCI are carrying out the basic, common sense tasks - calling up a shortlists of players, asking them to stay fit, prepared and apply for visas.
Champion teams fight out of long arduous battles courtesy of strong bench strength. England knocked India off their perch on the back of high quality backups. For every injured Chrit Tremlett, they had a Tim Bresnan; for every injured Jonathan Trott, they had a Ravi Bopara; for every rested James Anderson, they had a Steve Finn.
Compare this to India's bench in Australia. It's looking so depressing that only Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha have a realistic chance of making to the preferred XI during the tour. Add Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane and the collective test experience of this bench is a net of 19 Tests; none of which were played outside the subcontinent, 14 of which belong to Ojha.
The average age of this group, at 24.6yrs, is relatively young. However it's open to debate how many of them are expected to serve Indian cricket in the long run. While I am not questioning the merit behind the selections, a different bench would have given the captain some serious options. Consider this
1. Rohit Sharma (original selection)
2. Irfan Pathan - The only Indian who comes closest to a pace bowling all rounder, played both the Tests we won in Australia over the past decade, gives depth in batting, fielding and seemingly was coming into form.
3. Ashish Nehra - Forgotten and has no contract after making the cardinal sin of helping India win the World Cup 2011 semi-final vs Pakistan and diving to attempt a catch and split the webbing of his fingers. Has played in Australia before, clocks 135kmph consistently, has won Test matches for us overseas, was India's best pacer in ODIs between 2008-2010 and an able replacement to Zaheer Khan - who has a history of never being able to last an entire Australian tour, twice.
4. Ravindra Jadeja - On helpful tracks Ojha is a far better spinner. On Australian tracks I am not sure if the delta difference between the two is big. In form, gives serious depth to batting and fielding. If Pathan and Jadeja come into the XI we have an option of playing five bowlers without compromising much on the batting.
5. Abhinav Mukund - Did open in the West Indies and England in 2011 and didn't do so bad worth being rejected, considering the entire English tour was a horror show for most of our batsmen.
6. Dinesh Karthik - Has a Test average of 27, opening in a number of games in challenging conditions (South Africa, England and West Indies). Would have stayed as backup 'keeper and backup opener.
Would this proposed bench have given more comfort and options to the team management or the current one? I feel the proposed bench was better.
The lack of a strong bench also impacts the performance of players in the XI. Their positions have too much comfort. Even if our bowlers don't give their best, barring injury, it's unlikely Vinay or Mithun will replace them for the following test. Ditto for the batsmen; Only Virat Kohli has a serious scare about his place, others just need to stay fit and would walk into the eleven.
It makes me compare this with English Premier League team Arsenal of the past six years - every season they start promisingly and vie for the top honours, but just a couple of key injuries later, the team fights just to stay in the elite league (top four position). India have such key men - most notably Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan. Next in line would be Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Lazman, MS Dhoni and Ishant Sharma!
For us to win the series, this "magnificent seven" need to play all four Tests. If three or four of them get injured like during the England tour and we are down 0-1 or 0-2 in the series, you might as well switch to the Australian Open tennis championships.
The other option is that our first XI gives us a winning start in Melbourne, much against the odds - after all it's the same venue where we lost our last four Tests within four playing days!
Agneepath (path of fire), it surely will be.
Can't wait for Boxing Day!
