I remember discussing England's disastrous Ashes tour of Australia (2017-18) and saying " No matter what, India wouldn't fare like this on a tour. They would show far more spirit and put up a good fight". Well, well - I was quite wrong. The India tour to SA has reaffirmed that we travel badly and that we make the same basic mistakes whenever we tour. 0-2 down and the third test is looming large.
The selection mistakes (Rahane left out so far, Bhuvi left out in the 2nd test). mistakes in tactics and mistakes from players notwithstanding, we were thoroughly outplayed. To give credit to Kohli, he chose an aggressive 6 batsmen strategy (as against a safer 7 batsmen) in the hope that bowlers would pick up 20 wickets and give us a chance to win. We did pick 20 wickets in each test, but so did the opposition - only they scored more! So, what are the things India should do different in the 3rd Test?
1. 7 batsmen (including the keeper)? This is one scenario in which Rahane and Sharma both get to play. With Dinesh Karthik being the most likely keeper (and batting at 7), India will play 4 bowlers (Ashwin + 2 regular fast bowlers + Hardhik - which will become 8 batsmen and 3.5 bowlers) or maybe drop Hardhik and get another regular fast bowler. This is a 'safe' bet - with this combo, India will most likely not lose, but will definitely not win! This is a combination where chance of losing is 25-30% IMHO.
2. 6 batsman - but without Pujara! This one is scary to even think of, but might be necessary. Pujara is out of form and worse - is getting out in the worst possible ways ( 2 run-outs on the same test). Getting Rahane in for him will not impact runs very badly, yet give Rahane and Sharma another shot at SA. With 5 bowlers, we will have space for Hardhik too. So, that makes it 7 batsmen still with 4.5 bowlers if you might want to call it that (or maybe 6.5 batsmen with 5 bowlers). With this combo, we have a decent chance of winning but an equally good chance of losing : 50% chance of losing, but maybe 30% chance of winning.
So, what will India , rather Virat Kohli do now? Tough call. Whatever decision he takes, we will unfortunately be judging him based on the results of the third test!
The selection mistakes (Rahane left out so far, Bhuvi left out in the 2nd test). mistakes in tactics and mistakes from players notwithstanding, we were thoroughly outplayed. To give credit to Kohli, he chose an aggressive 6 batsmen strategy (as against a safer 7 batsmen) in the hope that bowlers would pick up 20 wickets and give us a chance to win. We did pick 20 wickets in each test, but so did the opposition - only they scored more! So, what are the things India should do different in the 3rd Test?
1. 7 batsmen (including the keeper)? This is one scenario in which Rahane and Sharma both get to play. With Dinesh Karthik being the most likely keeper (and batting at 7), India will play 4 bowlers (Ashwin + 2 regular fast bowlers + Hardhik - which will become 8 batsmen and 3.5 bowlers) or maybe drop Hardhik and get another regular fast bowler. This is a 'safe' bet - with this combo, India will most likely not lose, but will definitely not win! This is a combination where chance of losing is 25-30% IMHO.
2. 6 batsman - but without Pujara! This one is scary to even think of, but might be necessary. Pujara is out of form and worse - is getting out in the worst possible ways ( 2 run-outs on the same test). Getting Rahane in for him will not impact runs very badly, yet give Rahane and Sharma another shot at SA. With 5 bowlers, we will have space for Hardhik too. So, that makes it 7 batsmen still with 4.5 bowlers if you might want to call it that (or maybe 6.5 batsmen with 5 bowlers). With this combo, we have a decent chance of winning but an equally good chance of losing : 50% chance of losing, but maybe 30% chance of winning.
So, what will India , rather Virat Kohli do now? Tough call. Whatever decision he takes, we will unfortunately be judging him based on the results of the third test!
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