Published: Sep 15, 2016, 09:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 15, 2016, 12:36 PM (IST)
India has always been blessed with batsmen who have the talent and temperament to succeed under all conditions presented to them—seaming wickets, green tops, bouncy or spinning tracks. Batsmen generally around the world since ages have been known be masters of batting at home and then have develop into worldwide acclaims. The current Indian Test team is filled with batsmen who can be called predators in both home and away conditions, having accumulated runs by the loot wherever they have played. India kick off its cricketing season at home with a three-Test series against New Zealand, followed by a five-Test series against England. Post England, Bangladesh visit India for the first time to play a one-off Test in 2017. India conclude their prolonged chain of Tests, when they take on Australia in four-match series . FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand, 1st Test at Green Park Stadium, Kanpur
With as many as 13 Tests in line for India it gives ample chances for head coach Anil Kumble to try out international and domestic stars in the famed Indian batting line-up. With domestic season in India taking off with Duleep Trophy 2016-17, it puts addition pressure on Test regulars. Test skipper Virat Kohli has time and again showed that he has faith in his players, regardless of their failures now and then. Picking Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the 15-man squad for New Zealand series is a prime example of that. Indian batting line-up has the likes of Murali Vijay, Kohli himself, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha, who are capable enough to form a daunting order to rattle any opposition attack. Apart from Vijay everyone displayed masterly form in the series against West Indies at the Caribbean.
[read-also]523530[/read-also]
Rahane has scored centuries in Australia, New Zealand, England and the West Indies during in his career so far. Rahane missed out on achieving tons in South Africa and Bangladesh by a whisker. Having played just one Test in India till last year, which was in his debut series in 2013 against Australia, Rahane was under the pump to whip-up runs against South Africa when they toured the Indian shores in 2015.
Rahane was unable to kick start his innings and got out on scores of 15, 2, 13 and 9, which was heartbreaking for a batsmen of his caliber. Come the fourth and final Test of series Rahane manufactured two of the most — strenuous and exsanguinating hundreds of his career so far, a 127 and a 100 not out at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in back-to-back innings.
Since then Rahane has upped his game and become more consistent and combative in his style. The Indian Premier League 2016 (IPL) played a massive part and helped him rechristen to Ajinkya ‘all-format’ Rahane. From being a classical text book batsman, Rahane started going unorthodox and unconventional too, which helped him carve a niche for himself in exalted batting line-up.
Another batsmen who rose to prominence post IPL 2016 is KL Rahul. Rahul was already a fringe player in the India Test team by then but has since burgeoned into a trustworthy and much admired member of the side. Rahul shared the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) dressing room with Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Indian skipper Kohli himself, playing anchoring roles in most of the partnership amidst the belligerence of their ‘fab three’. Rahul was praised by all his esteemed teammates on his approach to the game and lauded his desire to learn from the best.
| IPL Performance 2016 | |||
| Player | Matches | Runs | Strike-rate |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 14 | 480 | 126.64 |
| KL Rahul | 14 | 397 | 146.49 |
24-year-old Rahul made his Test debut against Australia in 2014 series, starting it on a poor note, but made up it by notching his first Test ton in the Syndey Test. Since then Rahul has been inconsistent with keeping his place in the team, but has been able to make the most of it with hundreds in each of the series he featured in — against Sri Lanka and West Indies (both were away from home).
[read-also]523860[/read-also]
Rahul in the series against West Indies was fortunate to get a place in the XI following an injury to established opener Vijay who has been in red hot form. Rahul justified his position in the team with a gritty and fluent hundred at Jamaica.
One of the most crucial things missing from Rahul’s curriculum vitae is a Test in India. Indian cricket fans are yet to graced by Rahul’s batting prowess at home in the longer format of the game. This forms a big cause of concern for Kohli and the team management, with Rahul and Rahane’s lacking the sense of absorbing the pressures of playing in almost a jam-packed stadiums.
Both Rahane and Rahul must be aware of all the many players in the domestic circuit that are eyeing a place in the squad. Indian Test discard Gautam Gambhir has already made it clear that he will fight and fight hard to make a comeback into the side.
Mumbai’s batting sensation Shreyas Iyer has been knocking off the doors of Indian Test team since his phenomenal Ranji Trophy 2015-16 season, where he amassed 1,321 runs at 73.38.
Manish Pandey who led India-A to a quadrangular series win in Australia a week ago, has been performing day in and day out with the bat for Karnataka, averaging 50.52 in First-Class cricket.
Given the number of players who are sitting just on the edge of the seat for a game, Rahane and Rahul both will be under a lot of pressure to come good in India against New Zealand. Rahul in particular will be under the scanner with Vijay, Dhawan, Gambhir and Pandey doing absolutely gobsmacking good with the bat in domestic cricket.
| First-Class Statistics | ||
| Player | Average | Runs |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 57.73 | 7,679 |
| KL Rahul | 53.63 | 3,701 |
| Manish Pandey | 50.25 | 5,176 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 49.75 | 13,731 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 55.43 | 2,439 |
Above statistics doesn’t imply that Rahane and Rahul are unworthy of a place in the side. Rahane in his very second Ranji Trophy season scored 1,089 runs to guide Mumbai to a 38th Ranji Title.
[read-also]524015[/read-also]
Rahul himself has had a similar career graph in Ranji Trophy playing for Karnataka. After starting poorly in his first few seasons, Rahul announced himself with a path breaking 2013-14 season where he churned 1,033 runs top help his team win their seventh Ranji championship. Both players have had astonishing First-Class careers across the table playing all competitions.
With teams like New Zealand, England and Australia touring in the next six months Indian team management would have an eagle like eye on every player in the national team and domestic circuit. Chopping and changing will happen in the team with so much of cricket being played, some players will be replaced by default and others could very well be situational.
Going forward, the New Zealand series will act as a yardstick for future Tests against England, Bangladesh and Australia, and any insecurities in the batting will be exposed to bits. It becomes highly impervious for both Rahane and Rahul to express themselves freely, most importantly for the latter who is yet to brick his place in the team for good.
Yes! Rahul can go the Twenty20 way in his batting but Test is a different ball game altogether and against the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, it will not be a cake walk. Southee in particular will pose a threat to all batsmen because of his familiarity to Indian conditions.
One thing Rahane and Rahul must apprehend are the perils of playing at home. You under-perform – you become the prick in the eye of the nation, but if you perform exceedingly well – you become the God in everyone’s prayers.
(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @capturethecatch )
