Fab Three facesfreshtestvsProteas
India’s new batting leaders, with Virat Kohli in the front, will have to deliver on South Africa’s pacy wickets
It’s been four years since Sachin Tendulkar -- last of the Fab Four -- retired but India didn’t have to start from scratch thanks to the transition kicked off by Sourav Ganguly’s retirement in 2008. The extent of change can be gauged from the fact that Murali Vijay and Ishant Sharma are the only two survivors from Ganguly’s last Test in Nagpur.
The batting order shakeup since 2008 has been gradual, involving Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Abhinav Mukund and even Karun Nair. Rohit Sharma’s ability to churn out crucial hundreds makes him a super sub but that could change any time.
More settled looks the new core of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who still have some way to go to be compared with Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Since the tour of South Africa in 2013 was the first time India played a Test series without the illustrious quartet, assessing their potential seems timely.
RISE OF PUJARA, KOHLI
Pujara and Kohli made their debut within a year of each other, both starting at No 5. The retirements of Dravid and Laxman after the 2011-12 Australia tour meant Pujara was promoted to No 3, but Kohli continued to bat after Tendulkar. On debut, Rahane batted at No 5 as Pujara opened in that game. In his next Test though -- in Johannesburg, Rahane came at No 6. Slowly but surely, he has owned No 5.
Among the three, Rahane has the fewest centuries (9) but six of them have come away from home. He may average just 33 plus at home but since that goes up to 53 away, India know they have a go-to man playing abroad.
Kohli, of course, is on the fast lane towards eclipsing all records, scoring 10 hundreds each home and away. He seems to have overcome a tendency to play away from the body – a weakness England bowlers exploited on the 2014 tour.
But Pujara, despite his enormous patience and ability to grind out the opposition once on top, doesn’t have the conversion going in his favour. One century outside the subcontinent -- in South Africa in 2013 -- in a sevenyear career (17 Tests away from the sub-continent) doesn’t do justice to his capability.
Debu Mitra, Pujara’s erstwhile coach at Saurashtra, however feels it will change soon. “He knows he is going to the country where he had scored that century. It always helps mentally. Pujara is a much more evolved batsman and he should get runs in South Africa,” he told Hindustan Times over phone.
Pujara was bogged down by questions over his strike rate in 2016, with Kohli speaking to the batsman on the need to speed up. Mitra said Pujara has emerged a better batsman due to a few changes. “His strike rate has improved. The biggest change in him though is that he is sweeping now. He never used to play that shot.”
South African pitches this time of the year tend to be fast. But all three are seasoned and have good averages -- 68 (Kohli), 69 (Rahane) and 44 (Pujara) -- that almost won them a Test the last time. With most boxes ticked, India should be assured of a fighting chance to draw the series, if not win.