‘Supersubs’ Vijay and Rohit add to India’s batting riches
BATTLE READY Batsmen and pacer Ishant Sharma eased into slots left vacant and set up a huge win in Nagpur
NAGPUR: For the second Test starting in Nagpur, India had lost three of their main performers, who had all done brilliantly in the series opener against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens.
India’s pace spearhead, Mohammed Shami had claimed four wickets, swing sensation Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a match-haul of eight wickets and opener Shikhar Dhawan had blasted 94 in the second innings.
Any team would be rattled; they are big holes to fill. But what does India do? In comes Murali Vijay for Dhawan and smashes a hundred, Ishant Sharma fills in for Bhuvneshwar and outshines all other bowlers, and Rohit Sharma creams a free-flowing hundred.
India has the kind of depth teams dream of, and the second Test provided proof. This is India’s main strength at the moment.
Ishant and Vijay were likefor-like replacements while Rohit got a chance because India chose to go for a six-four (batsman-bowler) combination.
JOSTLING FOR SPOTS
The Mumbai batsman is likely to go back to spending time on the bench, and will get his next chance when India decide to add an extra batsman. However, the impressive performances of Ishant and Vijay have increased the competition for places in the playing XI – a welcome headache for the team management.
Captain Virat Kohli will have a tough choice to make between picking Dhawan and Vijay for the third Test starting in New Delhi on Saturday. Dhawan can change the game within a session and was India’s highest rungetter in the series in Sri Lanka as well. But Vijay was the firstchoice opener and the lefthanded batsman only got a chance only because Vijay got injured ahead of the away Sri Lanka series. The call has to also be based on who the team management plans to open with in the South Africa series.
ISHANT’S FORM
Though Ashwin bagged an eightwicket haul, the talking point of the game among bowlers was Ishant’s impressive performance. The lanky pacer was in the kind of rhythm which had helped him make a name when he first burst on to the scene. To add to his three-wicket haul in the first innings, he bowled two dream deliveries in the second essay for a match haul of five.
It gives Kohli a ready-made back up for the fragile Shami. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar swinging the ball like a sultan, Umesh Yadav will be under pressure to keep his place in the XI for the South Africa series.
India were already in a strong position when Rohit Sharma came out to bat, but it was an important hundred for the Mumbai batsman; not just from a personal point of view, but it fits into the team’s preparations for South Africa, where India are likely to feel the need to bolster the batting.