India have received a body blow ahead of the Edgbaston Test, with their skipper and opening batter Rohit Sharma contracting Covid-19.
The curtains hadn’t even been raised on tourists’ four-day warm-up encounter and the news came to light on Saturday (June 25) that their revived Test player could be on the sidelines in Birmingham. To cut straight through to the bone of contention, if Rohit doesn’t recover, India are in for a major headache ahead of the summit clash to decide the fortunes for the Pataudi Trophy.
Filling a Rohit Sharma size void in their playing XI is an arduous task, as India found out in South Africa earlier this year, and the last thing the visitors would want is to miss his presence at the top of the order, facing the red new Dukes against Broad and Anderson.
But if the veteran doesn’t make the cut for the game, here are the three probable options and combinations the Indians can try at the top with Shubman Gill emerging as the incumbent since KL Rahul, too, is not around.
UPDATE – #TeamIndia Captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday. He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team.
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 25, 2022
Ideally, the Edgbaston Test would’ve been the start of Gill batting in the middle-order for India. The youngster needs some breathing space at this stage of his career, still overcoming an underdeveloped frontfoot game and finding his feet at this level.
But with Rahul out, and Rohit potentially sidelined, Gill will have to bat at the top. And to partner him, one safe option for head coach Rahul Dravid would be to ask Cheteshwar Pujara to move from his preferred No.3 spot and jump up.
Like Dravid did in his heyday, Pujara, too, may feel “rushed” having to immediately walk in. But much like Dravid, the team player would be willing to bite the bullet and take on the challenge, embracing it for the larger good.
Pujara, who is coming on the back of a immensely fruitful stint in county cricket with Sussex, has previously opened the innings for India, albeit briefly, and would try to approach the critical opening duties with all his concentration and resolve.
Another middle-order batter who could potentially be a replacement for Rohit is Hanuma Vihari. It may seem unfair on the Andhra right-hander, who in March kicked off a new phase in his journey as a designated No.3.
But in a stop-gap arrangement, he may well have to move up the order and do a job of playing out the new ball. A player with a strong defense and minimalistic fuss at the crease, Vihari has previously, too, used all his attributes to play an important part as opener in India’s fortunes.
Remember the 2018 Boxing Day Test? It was Vihari, who opened the batting for India on Day 1 in absence of a specialist top-order player, and kept Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at bay when the track was offering the pacers the early swing and seam.
Vihari didn’t make a big score – some would even count his 8 off 66 as a ‘failure’ – but him playing out the new ball and easing things up for the rest of the batting unit made a huge difference in India’s series-sealing victory at MCG.
This wouldn’t even have been an option a few days back. But the way KS Bharat batted for his solid knock of 70 in the warm-up against Leicester has risen the back-up wicketkeeper’s stocks within Indian cricket.
Suddenly, with a vacuum at hand, Bharat’s name feels like a potential consideration to bat at the top of the order. Bharat has been in terrific form in first-class cricket for a while and backed that up with knock of ressurection amidst an Indian collapse at the Grace Road.
He is a solid enough better to make the cut into this Indian side and the team management may just think along the lines of opening with him.
In a surprising move, the Indian selectors have reportedly asked Mayank Agarwal to quickly fly into England and be present as the back-up to Rohit if the incumbent doesn’t recover.
Agarwal had been dropped from the Test squad after a sustained period of failures, with his last five matches seeing him average only 21.60. He has also been a longstanding failure in overseas conditions, averaging only 19.75 in his last 20 innings outside India.
But with him coming in, one of the options that the think-tank would have up for consideration is to go back to the Karnataka batter and unite his opening dual with Gill, last seen during the Test series against New Zealand at home in November.
