The musical chairs of the Indian middle-order

The musical chairs of the Indian middle-order: In a few weeks, Virat Kohli’s team India is going face its toughest opponent yet, the Proteas. This is a huge series in many ways. It is Kohli’s 1st home series as a test captain, a stern test of his capabilities both with the bat and leading his team against the no.1 Test side in the world. Not only are SA the best side currently but also they’ve historically troubled India the most, with a win % of 44.82% (13 wins in 29 tests), South Africa have been India’s most difficult opponents in Tests, both at home and away. The Indian team has managed to win the series against the Proteas only twice in 23 years, both at home, not once in the last decade. Things have changed since India last hosted the Proteas, way back in 2010, India had a different captain, a different batting line up altogether, the one where 6 of the top 7 would select themselves (Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni), a luxury that India had for quite some time, they were the no. 1 team back then, easily the best top order India had, something that Kohli would dearly want, a stable top order.
When Kohli will lead India into the 1st test match, what he really needs to do is end the speculation regarding the batting positions. There has been a lot of talk about trying various batsmen at different batting positions. Off the top 7, only 3 have their designated positions, Vijay-Dhawan at the top if both fit and Kohli at number 4. Saha picks himself at the back of his two half centuries in Sri Lanka. Apart from that, there is hardly any clarity as to who will bat at no. 3, 5, 6, and 7.

The number 6-7 position would depend on how many bowlers India plan to play. Considering this is a home series, Kohli might not shy away from playing 4 bowlers which would mean India playing 6 batsmen and a keeper, which leaves us with 4 likely candidates for the remaining spots, Pujara, Rahul, Rahane, and RG Sharma.

Let’s begin with no. 3 spot, in the recently concluded series in Sri Lanka, India began promoted Rohit Sharma to the no. 3 spot, which failed miserable and he then dropped back to the number 5 spot where he had 4 decent starts with 2 half centuries, however failing to convert either of those starts into a century. After Sharma’s failure at number 3, Rahane swapped places with Rohit which resulted in a century and 3 single digit scores, a mixed bag for someone who was doing well for himself at 3 or 4 down. Lokesh Rahul has to drop down the order if he needs to fit into this team as Vijay-Dhawan partnership has been doing well at the top. Dhawan had a very lacklustre 2014 and was replaced at the top by Rahul in the final test of the Australia tour, however a couple of centuries against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have strengthened his case to partner with Murali Vijay who had an amazing tour of Australia and followed up with a century and a solid 80 v/s Bangladesh and Sri Lanka respectively.

KL Rahul’s career so far has been binary, either he has scored a century or gotten out cheaply. Of his 10 innings so far, he has managed to past the score of 16 only twice, scoring a century on each of those occasions with 7 single digit scores, this sort of inconsistency puts him behind his peers, making it uncertain whether he will be in the XI.

Cheteshwar Pujara, in my opinion, is the most deserving player at the coveted No.3 spot. He averages 49 at No.3 overall, while a stunning 75.3 at No.3 on Indian soil. His unbeaten century in the 3rd test of the recently concluded Sri Lanka series couldn’t have come at a better time, he showed strong resolve and character, something The Great Rahul Dravid did for almost 2 decades, he surely has big boots to fill, but I think it’s about time we found a permanent no.3. That century would, for some time, silence his critics. He is very keen to return to the number 3 spot. His technique is very conventional, something that will be required to fend off Steyn and co. His defence is impeccable and he can wear out the opposition by leaving redundant deliveries and won’t commit himself to a shot too early. He is the perfect partner around whom the whole top order can bat. Considering Dhawan and Kohli both have a certain touch of flamboyance to their batting style, Pujara’s elegance can have quite a contrasting effect. I still remember in 2011’s new year test in Cape Town, a 3 test old Pujara was undone by a peach of a delivery by Dale Steyn. He would be hoping to get the better of the best bowler in the world this time around.

While Kohli has occupied the No.4 slot quite comfortably, scoring centuries at will, the debate now is who should follow him and can India manage to play both Rahane and Rohit?

Rohit Sharma made his ODI and T20I debut in 2007 but had to wait 6 long years to finally get his Test cap. His career started with a bang, two centuries in two innings in a series which was largely overshadowed by Tendulkar’s departure from International cricket. Since that home series, Rohit hasn’t been able to carry the brilliant start to his career and his hot and mostly cold form had denied him a permanent slot in 2014 under Dhoni’s leadership. However, Kohli has showed faith in Rohit and has been vocal in giving him a good run in tests before judging much. Kohli is true on his part, Rohit is only 14 tests old and people have been too quick to jump the gun and criticize his performances in the longer version of the game. The No.5 slot would suit his game, that’s where he looked comfortable in the recently concluded Sri Lanka series, however, that position is quite tricky as you either come in to bat when it’s either a well-established innings or you are three wickets down quite early in the innings so he needs to adapt and apply himself and just let his bat do the talking. This series is crucial for him as he needs to truly come out and perform, announce his arrival in the Test arena and seal his place in the side, let’s hope he is able to that.

Ajinkya Rahane is one batsman you can’t afford to leave out of your XI. He had a good series in England last summer and he followed that up with an even better performance Down Under batting really well in crucial situations at No.5. Rahane, however, is my ideal choice for the No. 6 slot, majorly because he has the patience and the technique to bat with the tail, something that VVS Laxman did for a large part of his career. Considering the captain’s decision to play 5 bowlers, Rahane was picked ahead of Rohit Sharma due to this quality of his. This being a home series, I hope Kohli plays 7 batsmen and gives the lads from Mumbai an opportunity to bat together and stitch together long entertaining partnerships.

Like Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha too deserves a good run at the test level before being judged too much and 2 half centuries in 2 games have come at crucial times making him a definite starter.

Ravindra Jadeja has made his way back into the Test side at the back of a stellar show in the Ranji Trophy with the ball. His batting form too has been quite decent but it is still quite difficult to say whether he will be a definite starter as if India play Jadeja as the 5th bowler, India will have a long tail right as and going with 5 specialist batsmen might leave the batting weak. Hence at this point India might persist with only 4 bowlers especially in home conditions and as and when required, get Jadeja in the side

Stuart Binny might be retained in the squad for the test series however, but we need to wait and watch whether he is picked in the starting XI. His medium pace and the lack of movement on Indian wickets don’t make a good case for him as an all-rounder. I highly doubt India would go with Binny at this stage. All-rounders around the world these days pick themselves on one the basis of either of the two aspects of the game, Binny however, is a half and half player not specialised in batting or bowling just yet.

Ashwin has an impressive batting average of 43.35 with 2 centuries and 2 fifties at home, making him a potent No.8 batsman and a much better choice than Binny as an all-rounder. Ashwin might just transform himself into the all-rounder India need so badly and can then afford to play 3 pacers and 2 spinners, but highly unlikely that India will play 5 bowlers at home and considering Ishant Sharma is serving a one match ban and Shami fighting hard to be fit in time for the 1st Test, the starting XI for the 1st Test might look something like this: Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit, Rahane, Saha, Ashwin, Mishra, Yadav and Aaron.