LONDON, June 12 (PTI): Consistency has been the hallmark of the Indian Test team over the
past five years but after its second successive failure in a WTC final, has it lost its best shot at
attaining greatness?
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Aswhin and
Mohammed Shami have contributed to the team’s success in all conditions but with all of them
being on the wrong side of 30s, they may have just ran out of time to create the aura of
invincibility that the Australian teams of the 90s and early 2000s had.
Most of them are likely to be around in case India makes another WTC final two years later but
with their best years already behind them, the task will get tougher for the golden generation
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of cricketers who played their part in famous wins all around the world, including the back-to-
back series triumphs Australia.
Questions will be asked after India’s comprehensive defeat at The Oval to Australia and the
selectors will need to take some tough calls going into the new WTC cycle which starts with the
West Indies tour next month.
India dropped both Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara from the side following the South
Africa tour but brought them back rather than grooming youngsters? Rahane scored the bulk of
the runs for India in the WTC final but was going back to him and Pujara the right call?
Former India selector Sarandeep Singh, who saw India script one of their best Test triumphs in
Australia in January 2021, doesn’t see wholesale changes being made in the batting
department, but the bowling line-up could be drastically different going ahead.
“Kohli and Rohit will be around for the next cycle but I see a lot of major changes in the bowling
department. The current generation’s list of achievements is long but you also need to win big
titles. With so many lefties in the Australian line-up, not playing R Ashwin was a shocker.
“Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur were not as potent as Siraj and Shami and that cost India the
game. Also, the experienced batters could not live up to the expectations. This team may have
already hit its peak but there is no reason why it can’t win come 2025,” an optimistic Sarandeep
told PTI.
With Jasprit Bumrah injured, Shami has been leading the pace attack but considering the
workload he has had to ensure across formats, it will be tough for him to last another WTC
cycle.
Mohammed Siraj was the best bowler for India in the final but if he doesn’t get support from
others, he will be at a bigger risk of breaking down.
“For some reason, no attention was paid to prepare the next line of pacers. It will be tough for
Shami to carry on for another two years, Siraj is the only one who is young but he can’t be
overused. You needed to groom Umran Malik, the only bowler who can clock 150kmph, but you
did not try him.
“We also need a left-arm pacer and rather than going back to Jaydev Unadkat, Arshdeep Singh
could have been tried. Some big calls have to be taken soon,” Sarandeep added.
The A tours, which helped India create a rich bench strength over the past decade, were
inexplicably stopped in the last year or so, forcing the selectors to go back to the tried and
tested players rather than blooding youngsters.
The India batters’ inability to bat for longer periods in a Test match has also been exposed in
this cycle, be it in home conditions or overseas. Being aggressive against a hostile attack can be
productive but loose shots from some of the senior Indian batters highlighted that they were
not prepared to play the waiting game in testing conditions.
“It is important to show some vision as far as the A team is concerned, so that you can build
bench strength. I don’t want to pinpoint but it is very important to build bench strength.
“We have not been able to do that in Test cricket. NCA has become a rehab centre. We need
vision and the will to implement it. We must be preparing now for the next cycle,” said former
India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.
