Aloof India struggling to find form and friends
INDIA may be ranked No 1 in the world and possess cricket’s outstanding all-format batsman in captain Virat Kohli, but not everything has gone to plan for them.
Preparations for the first Test at Edgbaston, which starts on Wednesday, were disrupted by off-field problems in Essex when the touring side angered their hosts by cutting their warm-up match in Chelmsford from four days to three.
India also changed hotels twice during their time in heatwave-struck Essex, complaining about insufficient air conditioning and moving to accommodation more than an hour away from the County Ground.
The perception of aloofness and arrogance was not helped when India refused to agree to any media commitments during their time in Essex.
On the field, India have a number of issues to wrestle with this week.
Time will tell if just three days of red-ball cricket will be sufficient preparation for taking on England at a ground where they have not lost in a decade.
But they have little time to settle on a top order that looks set to include at least one out-of-form batsman. Shikhar Dhawan’s two ducks at Chelmsford, where he faced just four balls, have put his place at the top of the order alongside Murali Vijay under threat.
K L Rahul, who was expected to bat at No 3, could replace him but that would mean playing Cheteshwar Pujara, who had himself looked set to be left out of the Test side after a summer in which he has averaged 14 in six County Championship games for Yorkshire. Kohli, who hit two half-centuries in the recent one-day internationals and another at Chelmsford, appears ready to banish memories of his 2014 Test series in England, when he averaged 13.40.
Ajinkya Rahane, India’s No 5, is short of runs but in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik hit 82 against Essex and England will need to be wary of him.
Hardik Pandya will take the all-rounder’s spot at No 7, while India’s bowling attack will most likely comprise two slow bowlers in Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav alongside seamers Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami.