Need for Change

I was and still am extremely excited about the test match series between India and England. India has sent a young and good side. There are indeed certain debatable selections but more-or-less, it is there. Defeating England would be great but more than anything, the series is exciting as it would show what kind of arsenal we have in store for the coming few years. After all, Kohli, Pujara, Rahane etc are among the best that we have and are likely to regularly feature in Indian test side in the next few years.

The first test is already over and it was quite disappointing. England produced a dead, flat track. Yet, Indian batting struggled. They were rescued by a few individual performances. The match ended in a draw as the story was nothing different in the opposite camp. 

It seemed that India did make some mistakes in the first test. And they were in the team selection. I hoped that Indian team would tweak the composition slightly in order to do better in the second test (which is going on). I was wrong. India went in the second test with an unchanged side.

In the first test, India went in with three pace bowlers and one 'specialist' spinner (in Ravindra Jadeja). And they picked Stuart Binny as the fifth option. Jadeja was ineffective in the first test and Binny did not get to bowl much. Whatever chances he got to bowl, he did not look very effective. So, he came across as an ineffective bowler who did not have the trust of his captain (since he bowled so little). He did have a good outing with the bat in the second innings. But, is that enough. What are we looking from him? If we need a batsman, are there not better options available? If you do not trust 6 batsmen, play Rohit Sharma as well. If we are looking for a batsman who can bowl 'a little' in order to give rest to the specialist bowlers, why not play someone like Yuvraj Singh? Or Irrfan Pathan? Or give a chance to Abhishek Nayyar (he had a better outing as a batsman as well as bowler in the domestic season)? If we are looking for a good fifth bowler (which Binny is clearly not), why not include Aswin (who may be a better bat than Binny)? I think Dhoni does not want to include another seamer because he wants to maintain a decent over-rate. Fair enough. Play a good spinner then. The inclusion of Binny is clearly surprising.

And on the top, though I really like Shikhar Dhawan, there seems to be a need for a change. Dhawan has looked good in the little time that he has spent on the crease (in both tests) but is not putting a price on his wicket. We need a strong opening stand and may be, Gautam Gambhir would be a better option.

One more change that can be considered is someone in place of Shami. He has not bowled badly but has not been very effective as well. Probably, it is time to try out Ishwar Pandey. I am not too sure about Aaron as he does not seem to have much beyond pace. And I do not think that only pace would rattle the English batsmen. Plus, he may pick an injury during the test, which would be devastating. He comes across as a better option for ODIs and T-20s. 

I hope Dhawan, Binny and Shami prove me wrong in the last 3 days of the second test. However, if they do not, India should start thinking of the Plan B.