Bad things come in threes. Maybe in fours, in the case of the Indian cricket team.
A defeat at home after taking a lead of 190 is bad enough, but being forced to rejig the eleven for the next game can be quite a challenge. India indeed has to sort a few things out before the second Test against England begins here on Friday.
Mohammed Shami has been out of action, because of an ankle injury, since his spectacular show at the World Cup. Then, Virat Kohli pulled out of the squad for the first two Tests because of personal reasons.
K.L. Rahul was the obvious choice to occupy Kohli’s No. 4 position and the Karnataka batter justified the team management’s faith in him by making a fine 86 in the first innings, but reported a right quadriceps pain and will not play here.
The only Indian who scored more than Rahul at Hyderabad also sustained an injury and is not available, either. Ravindra Jadeja will be badly missed. He is not merely a world class spinner but a reassuring presence in the middle-order, not to mention his left-handedness.
Remember, there is no Rishabh Pant, either; the dashing left-hander is still recovering from the injuries he sustained from a car accident over a year ago. It perhaps is not the best of times to be the Indian coach, captain or selector.
They will have to make some choices within the next couple of days before the team takes on a history-making, raring-to-go England side at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium.
Obvious chances
An Indian batter is bound to make his Test debut on that ground. Rajat Patidar, Kohli’s replacement, had joined the team on the eve of the Hyderabad Test, while Sarfaraz Khan was named in the squad on Monday. They both have played for India-A against the touring England Lions and have had considerable success.
Patidar, the top-order batter from Madhya Pradesh who made his ODI debut in South Africa last month, had scores like 111 and 154 against the Lions at Ahmedabad. Sarfaraz, Mumbai’s run-machine extraordinaire in the middle-order, had scores such as 96, 55 and 161.
The team management may not find it easy to fill the Jadeja-shaped hole. Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin is an excellent option – he has been in excellent form with the white ball and from his eight Tests, he has three five-wicket hauls —but, of course, he is no all-rounder.
Washington Sundar is. He made 62 in his first Test innings and in the second, he hooked Pat Cummins for a stunning six that changed the course of India’s historic chase at the Gabba against Australia three years ago. The off-spinning all-rounder scored 96 not out in his last Test innings.
India’s other spinning option, Saurabh Kumar, can also bat, and has two First Class hundreds. It would be interesting to see if the host would consider playing just the one seamer in Jasprit Bumrah and play a spinning all-rounder.
