COMBINATION ANALYSIS
Follow UsRohit or Rahul - who opens in Gabba?
India captain Rohit Sharma didn’t tinker with the opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul in the second Test after the two put on a match-winning stand of 201in the opening match in Perth. Rohit himself batted at No.6 for the first time since 2018 but could only manage scores of 3 and 6.
Meanwhile, despite being given a couple of early reprives, Rahul could only score 37 in the first innings of the Adelaide Test. The right-hander, who got 26 and 77 in the first Test, gloved one of Pat Cummins’ bumpers after scoring 7 in the second innings. This has been a problem with Rahul for a while now.
The 32-year-old often starts the overseas series on a high but never stays consistent. Let’s start with India’s tour of Australia in 2018-19 - Rahul scored 44 in his first Test before registering scores of 2, 0 and 9 in the next three innings. Then against West Indies in 2019 - 44 and 38 in the first Test followed by 13 and 6 in the next.
You look at the England series in 2021 (84, 26, 129 and 5 in the first two Tests, 0, 8, 17 and 46 in the last two), the 2021-22 and 2023-24 tours of South Africa (scores of 123 and 101 in the first Test of each tour, 86 runs in the remaining five innings), Rahul has been guilty of not being able to keep his form going throughout the series.
India have the option of sending Rahul back at No.6, where he averages 29.25 in nine innings and getting Rohit back at the top, but the latter himself has been in terrible form of late. The Indian captain is averaging just 27.14 in 23 innings this year and it would be extremely harsh on Rahul to change his position once again, at least for the next Test.
For now, all we can do is wait and watch.
Time to get Jadeja in the mix?
An average of 43.75 with the bat and 21.8 with the ball in four Tests in Australia. For someone who is averaging more than Rohit, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill in the last three years, it’s really surprising Ravindra Jadeja is yet to feature in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India went with Washington Sundar in the first Test, with the 25-year-old scoring 33 runs and picking up two wickets across two innings. He was replaced by R Ashwin in the second fixture, who scored 29 runs and took one wicket. The surfaces in Australia are not known for assisting spinners, and with the Indian batters struggling to put runs on the board, the management has the option of getting Jadeja into the mix.
Since 2022, the left-handed batter has 1,040 runs in 29 innings at an average of 38.52. Three of his four Test hundreds have come in the last three years. In this series, India have failed to bat even 50 overs on three out of four occasions. Nitish Reddy hasn’t found much support down the order, and that’s where Jadeja could come in handy. In Tests since 2022, Jadeja has seven 50-plus and nine 40-plus scores, and seven have of those have come after walking out to bat at the team score of less than 190, which is not really ideal for someone who mostly bats at No.7.
Also read - India don’t have the batting to ignore Ravindra Jadeja
The current Indian batting unit has also been blamed for being unable to bat time, especially in a place like Australia, where the conditions keep improving as the innings progress. Most current Indian batters don’t trust their defence, but that’s not the case with Jadeja. Among Indian players who have played at least 10 Tests since 2022, Jadeja (76.7) has the third-best balls/dismissal. Even in world cricket, he has the best balls/dismissal amongst batters (Nos.6-11) who have played at least 15 games since 2022.
With the ball, the left-arm spinner has 14 wickets in four Tests @ 21.8, which is absolutely not bad for a tweaker Down Under. Jadeja isn't just good against the right-handers; he's equally lethal against left-handers, something that India could utilise at the Gabba.
Who will be India’s third seamer?
Harshit Rana had a joyous debut in Perth, picking up four wickets across two innings. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj did most of the damage in the top order, making things easier for Rana. The young seamer, however, faced the harsh reality of Test cricket in Adelaide. Rana bowled 16 overs and was slammed for 86 runs without a single wicket.
Rana did quite well in his first two spells, going for just 18 runs in his first eight overs. Australia were 108/3 when he returned for his third spell. Marnus Labuschagne was struggling to score at a good rate, while Travis Head had just walked out to bat.
Rana failed to keep the pressure on the two batters and ended up leaking 38 runs in five overs. Then, in his fourth spell, Head smashed him for 30 runs in three overs. In what was only his second Test, Rana was put under serious pressure and had no response back. There’s now a possibility that he could be replaced in the Gabba with either Prasidh Krishna or Akash Deep.
The surface at the Gabba has always been known for its pace and bounce, and that’s where someone like Prasidh could come in handy. The tall and lanky seamer has just two wickets in as many Tests at an average of 65 but recently had a couple of impressive outings in the ‘A’ series. The right-armer picked up 10 wickets in two games at an average of 17.3.
India also have Akash Deep in their arsenal, and the right-arm pacer from Bengal has a lot more bodywork behind him than Prasidh. All of Akash Deep’s five Tests have come in India so far, with him taking 10 wickets at an average of 25.80. His numbers against left-handed batters are something that would make him a perfect third seamer for India.
When it comes to bowling against the top-seven batters in 2024, Bumrah is averaging 15.5 against right-handers and 29.2 against left-handers, which isn't too bad but not good enough for someone of his calibre. The difference for Siraj is even worse, with him going 19.5 vs right-handers and 60.5 vs left-handers. And that’s where Akash Deep could make an impact.
In Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Alex Carey, Australia have three left-handers in their top seven. And eight of Akash Deep’s 10 Test dismissals have been of left-handed batters. That’s right, the 27-year-old averages 16.6 against left-handers compared to 50.5 against right-handers. His hard length on that off-stump channel could really trouble those aforementioned Australian batters.
Considering the Gabba surface, there is also an option of playing four frontline seamers, but India are unlikely to take that route because none of those pacers can bat and we all know how fragile that batting line-up is.
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