India’s tilt at history suffers setback

Hostsaimtomatchtheirlongestundefeatedstreakandequalmostconsecutiveserieswinsbutsufferrahaneloss

Indiaareyettogoinwiththesameplayingxi twice in a row this year. That’s 10 Tests and 14 changesinpersonneloverall.ifreadinisolation, you might mistake it as a team in a state of flux, unresteven.notasettledunitandcertainlynot an unbeaten one on top of the world.

Already against England, they have put forththreedifferentopeningcombinations,two wicketkeepers, and four spinners. And it’s not liketheenforcedgameofmusicalchairswasset to end at the Wankhede Stadium on the eve of their11thtestoftheyear,evenwhentheout-ofform Ajinkya Rahane entered the nets on Wednesday to receive routine throwdowns.

For, only minutes into the session, Rahane was left throbbing in pain, the index finger on his right hand completely bent out of shape. Raghu, the throwdown specialist, had got one toriseoffalengthsharplyandstruckrahaneon the gloves. Within minutes, a majority of the support staff was around him with physio Patrickfarhartescortinghimout.withinacoupleofhours,itwasofficial.rahanewasruledout from playing his first Test on his home ground.

Mohammed Shami was also limping around,invisiblediscomfort,withacrepebandageonhisleftkneeintheadjoiningnet.hedidn’tlooklikesomeoneallsettotakethenewball the following day. Another cross, another tick with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled a lengthy spell, the most likely replacement.

Rahane’sinjurymeantkarunnairwillnow get to add to his maiden Test cap in Mohali, wherehisdebutwasastoryoftwoballs,adelectable boundary to get off the mark and a runout while responding to a call for a non-existent single from captain Virat Kohli. It isn’t all doom and gloom on the injury front though with KL Rahulacertaintytoregainhisplaceatthetopof theorderalongsidemuralivijay.butrahul’sreturnwouldmeanthreeplayerswilltakethefield in new positions on Thursday, at least as far as the series is concerned.

Parthiv Patel will now have to be slotted downtheorder—maybeatno.7withrashwin unlikelytogiveuptheno.6spotthathe’smade his own. Coach Anil Kumble could only smile coyly and say, “I hope that doesn’t go on. There has to be some stop at some stage.”

Over the next five days, Kohli not only will haveadjustmentstomakeonceindiatakesthe fieldintermsofbowlingplans,butwithrahane out, the middle order will look slightly shakier putting extra pressure on the captain's wicket. India’s nearly unprecedented success, though, has been built around how adjusting they’ve been with the incessant changes.

The 2-0 scoreline with two to go is testamenttothat.ifparthivsteppedinasopenerwith remarkableconvictionafteraneight-yearhiatus from Test cricket, Bhuvneshwar is coming in withtwofive-wickethaulsinhisthreeprevious Tests.andthelower-orderbattinghasmadeup forthatotherincongruity,rahanegoingthrough a lean patch in a Test series.

But Shami will be missed, even if Bhuvneshwardidturnthetestaroundwithhis second-innings spell the last time he showed up in whites, against New Zealand in Kolkata two months ago. While the spinners have hoggedthewicketsasexpected,it’sshamiwho’s providedtheknockoutblowsforkohli.forone, the English batsmen can now boldly get on to the front foot. Umesh Yadav can bowl a mean bouncer too, but he’s not the sort who’ll be at theopposition’sthroatasrelentlesslyashisnewball partner.

Alastaircookwillbreatheeasiertoo,consideringhistravailsagainstshamisofar.andhedid seem a tad surprised when asked about Bhuvneshwarduringthepressconference—he of course wasn’t privy to Shami’s discomfort — andevensaidhe’dbesurprisedifindiachanged the new-ball line-up. This is a reprieve for Cook who returns to a venue on which he scored an inspirational century last time around — which oftengetsforgottenthankstokevinpietersen’s incredible knock.

Withnoshami,thefocuswillthereforefall back on spin, which doesn’t necessarily make life easier for the visitors with Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant Yadav having kept the English batsmen on tenterhooks.

Cook will empathise with what Kohli has had to deal with. In Haseeb Hameed, it looked likethecricketingcupidhadfinallygotitrightfor the England captain at the top. But Hameed’s gone,andincomesanotheryoungsterinkeaton Jennings,whocookclaimedtohavenevermet before.stuartbroadfinallyseemedtohavecome intohisowninindianconditionsandgotahold oversomeoftheindianbatsmen,kohliincluded, during an inspired spell in Vizag. But he will be another notable absentee on the field in Mumbai,andprobablythemostsignificantone at that as far as the English are concerned.

Withgarethbattylookingoutofdepth,it’s likely they will go in with a more English-lookingpaceattackpickingeitherstevenfinnorjake Ball in place of the veteran off-spinner.

The series is at stake. The fourth Test is a must-win if the English want to keep it alive. They have no choice but to focus on winning ratherthanwhotheyhaveintheirrankstodoit. They could just take a leaf out of Kohli's and India’s book. They have no excuse left anyway.

Kevin D’souza Ajinkya Rahane (fourth from right) suffered an injury to the index finger of his right hand during a throwdown session in the practice nets.

Kevin D’souza 0-2 down in the series, England have their backs to the wall.