A problem of plenty at the top
Even after frequent changes at the top of the order, India’s opening department looks robust and anyone who got a chance has delivered more often than not
KOLKATA: The year started with Shubman Gill setting up a record chase in Brisbane with Rohit Sharma as opening partner; it is now ending with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal having stitched only India’s third hundred-plus opening stand in South Africa.
Irony is neither Gill nor Agarwal would find a place in the eleven once Rohit Sharma is fit to play Tests. Survival of the fittest? It’s complicated. Current form should count as the most important criterion but there is no way Sharma—also India’s Test vice-captain—plays and doesn’t open.
Right now, Rahul is untouchable after scoring hundreds at Lord’s and Centurion so Agarwal will be the first name on the chopping block. But it will be tough for Agarwal to take if he backs up his 60 at Centurion with a century or even a high fifty in the next two Tests.
What once topped selection conundrums on overseas tours has turned into a problem of sorts—india have too many good batters jostling for the openers’ berths. Right now, it’s Rahul and Agarwal.
Ideally it should have been Rahul and Rohit. Gill will always be in the fray for Brisbane and his counterattacking approach to batting. Meanwhile Agarwal, despite having scored all four centuries at home, keeps impressing in different countries—be it Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. One hundred away from home and he will equal Sharma, who got his first overseas century against England at The Oval in September.
And if it’s a conversation about potential opening contenders, Prithvi Shaw is too good a batter to not figure in that. Put them all together and you would think India are set for the long haul. Sharma is 34, Agarwal 30, Rahul 29 while Gill and Shaw are 22. If Sharma plays two more World Test Championship cycles, Rahul and Agarwal should be the second and third openers on overseas tours. After Sharma, either Gill or Shaw—based on form, preferably in India A—will graduate chairs of openers began in 2018 when India tried Vijay, Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel in the South Africa series. From Vijay-dhawan in Cape Town to Rahul-agarwal in Centurion (2021), India have tried 14 opening partnerships involving 10 different partners in three years.
Though Vijay and Dhawan— one of the most successful India opening pairs—are no longer in the fray, India still have five openers to plan with. In terms of technique, Gill and Shaw may have to work on several areas. But they could always be brought into the middle-order if there is an emergency.
The case in point was the Gabba Test early this year where Agarwal batted at No 5 because Virat Kohli was on paternity leave and stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane moved up to bat at No 4. Experts suggest that overseas tours require a settled opening pair.
However, backup openers are so commonplace nowadays that the third opener ends up playing a game or two in a long series anyway because the selectors’ patience wears thin if the desired runs don’t come by the second Test. That is a situation India tend to counter more often on away tours. Even if a backup opener doesn’t get a game, he returns significantly experienced just by virtue of being on tour.
At home, the norm is to choose smaller squads and fly in a backup according to the situation. India’s schedule plays an important role. After the South Africa tour, the only Tests India play till June will be in March when they host Sri Lanka for two matches.
Since the focus will shift to the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-november, Gill, Shaw and, possibly Agarwal, could be forced to play only domestic cricket and IPL till then. The experience that comes closest to a Test series is the shadow A tour though one can play several of them and not even get a look-in. India may be glad to have three quality batters and two possible standbys, each bringing a unique approach to opening. But it’s an abundance of talent they need to manage well.