It was always hard to fathom an Indian Test team without Sachin Tendulkar and the rest of the Fab Five. But rarely did the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane allow their absence to be felt.
As India rose through the ranks and touched the ultimate highs-joining the echelons of the greatest Test teams in history-these players blossomed from being the Next-Gen into greats of the format, eventually ushering in a transition phase.
India moved on from Rahane and Pujara two years ago. But a bigger test awaits the selectors and team management as India transition into a new era without Kohli and Rohit. The latter announced his sudden retirement from Test cricket on May 7 via a social media post. Days later, reports indicated that Kohli had already informed the BCCI that “he’s done” with the format.
With both developments unfolding just weeks before the scheduled selection meeting for the five-match Test series in England-a country where India haven’t won a series in over a decade-the Ajit Agarkar-led committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir find themselves in a muddle. But India do have a solid pool of reserves to draw from. Here’s a look at how the batting line-up could shape up in England in the absence of the two star batters.
Who will replace Rohit Sharma as opener?
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has featured in 19 Tests, scoring 1798 runs at 52.88, will be a certainty for the series. He has four centuries to his name, two of those away from home, with one in Australia, where he averaged 43.44 in his debut tour last season. However, Jaiswal has yet top prove himself in the seaming conditions in England.
To replace Rohit, India could recall Shubman Gill, who had willingly taken up the No. 3 responsibility after Pujara. He proved his worth in the position, scoring three centuries in the last 15 months, all of which came at home. On overseas soil, the 25-year-old averages just 19 in 12 innings with no half-century score. On the contrary, he averages 31.54 away from home as an opener, with two fifties. Although he does not have a very pleasant memory of facing the brand-new duke ball in England, managing just 88 runs in six innings.
India could hence retain Gill, reportedly set to be the next captain, at No. 3 and try out the experienced KL Rahul, who averages 34 as an opener in England, with two hundreds, and will head into he series after a decent show in Australia in the role.
The other possibility could be trying Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has long been knocking on the selection door and was also part of the squad during the entire Australia tour last season. The Bengal batter will be travelling to England for the India A series. Sai Sudharsan is also an option. The left-hander also has experience of English conditions, having played the County Championship last year, where he scored a century for Surrey batting at No. 6. He also scored a double century for Tamil Nadu in the previous Ranji Trophy season.
Who will replace Virat Kohli?
While India have seen a few too many openers in Test cricket over the last decade, No. 4 has been a position of no headache for the management for the last 12 years until now. With Kohli’s potential departure, India could move trust Rahul with the role, who is the only batter in the line-up with experience of playing at all the top four spots. The other possibility is having Sudharsan at No. 4 and retaining Rahul as opener or, pushing Rishabh Pant to the fourth spot and slotting in Sudharsan at No. 6 after Ravindra Jadeja.
Not to forget, Karun Nair, who will be travelling to England for the India A series after a stupendous Ranji Trophy season, could be entrusted with the No. 4 role. He does have County experience as well, averaging 49 in the last season, where he scored a century and three fifties.
Other options include Shreyas Iyer, who had a decent Ranji campaign last season, and Devdutt Padikkal, who batted at No. 3 and 4 in his two Test outings for India, scoring 25 and 65, respectively.
Possible India batting line-up for England tour: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan/Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Back ups: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Shreyas Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Sarfaraz Khan