In a sense, the day started off well for India. Dinesh Karthik was dismissed early and the rest of the batsmen followed him back to the pavilion quickly enough. The final four Indian wickets added 73 runs as the visitors were bowled out for 395 on the second day of their tour game against Essex.
Now, we said in a sense, because India’s biggest problem leading into the first Test isn’t the batting. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah out injured, India skipper Virat Kohli needed to get a good look at his bowling options ahead of the match at Edgbaston. But did he get to see what he wanted?
India, surprisingly, managed to send down only 50 overs in the final two sessions as Essex ended the day at 237-5. Sparkling fifties by Tom Westley 57 and Michael-Kyle Pepper 68 ensured that it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Indian team.
In the eyes of the 20-year-old Pepper, it was clear that the pacemen were trying their hardest to push their credentials. “Bowling-wise they went searching for wickets. So that allowed scoring options and the runs to flow a bit,” he said after the end of day’s play.
The runs and the pace that they were scored at aren’t the issue here, the lack of time is. Somehow, despite the criticism of the poor planning ahead of the tour of South Africa, India have managed to court similar problems in England too. The injury to Bhuvneshwar has stirred the pot a lot more than India would have liked and having just one tour game adds to the complication even more.
Umesh Yadav was clearly the pick of the bowlers — it showed that he has been in England for a while and his rhythm was good. A first spell of 7-4-9-1 showed all the qualities that Kohli would like him to bring to the first Test. He worked up good pace and his outswingers had a good shape about them. He ended the day with bowling figures of 14-7-23-2.
That’s one place sorted.
Ishant Sharma was the other man who seemed to find the right length rather quickly. He had had a solid outing with Sussex — playing matches from April to June. In 4 County matches, he claimed 15 wickets at 23.06. He wasn’t the best performer for his side but he did get through 115 overs and the value of that experience was on show. He ended up with bowling figures of 10-2-38-2.
That’s two places sorted.
But this is where the problems begin. If Mohammed Shami had been playing regular cricket — he would have been the spearhead of this attack. But his last match before this one was in April. A failed Yo-Yo test saw him being ruled out of the Afghanistan Test and off-the-field problems have occupied much of his mind space over the last few months.
Shami’s bowling early on showed the rust and it would take more than net sessions and a tour game to get rid of it. His initial spell of seven overs was ineffective but later in the day as the ball started reversing, he looked more like the Shami of old as he finished with figures of 14-0-59-0. Whether his fitness levels will allow him to bowl long spells in Test cricket is anybody’s guess but the right-arm pacemen will certainly have to figure a way to get out of the blocks quickly.
Kohli is likely to still pick him over Shardul Thakur, who was wayward despite having played in the ODIs. The consistency needed for Test cricket seems to be lacking and even though Shami might enter the first Test slightly under-cooked, he would still be the better bet.
It does make one wonder why the selectors and the Indian team management did not give Shami a run during the India ‘A’ matches. If they could accommodate an Ajinkya Rahane, they surely could have made space for one paceman given that the BCCI’s Tours and Fixtures committee couldn’t find any for another tour game.
As things stand — Shami’s effort on Thursday wasn’t enough to prove his form and Kohli will be forced to depend on his pedigree. Not ideal but the India skipper doesn’t have an option.
If Shami’s spell wasn’t the best, then neither was Hardik Pandya’s. The all-rounders fifty in the first innings might give him an over edge over Thakur, whose nine overs cost 41 runs for the wicket of Westley. But what kind of role will Pandya be asked to play in the first Test. If the fourth fast bowler is expected to play a major role, is he good enough for that?
Ravichandran Ashwin suffered a minor hand injury and as a precautionary measure did not not take the field on the second day. Another opportunity lost. And the question now is will Virat go with Kuldeep Yadav for the first Test or will he go with the off-spinner’s proven class.
Even Ravindra Jadeja bowled just 2 overs for 17 runs and didn’t get another bowl.
Kuldeep may have been the pick of Indian bowlers in the limited over series but there is a huge difference in white ball cricket and red ball cricket in England. And by not scheduling better, India will find themselves in a strange place with a confused Kohli.
Will he, as he did in South Africa, now go with ‘form’ or will he, because he has no other option, go with pedigree? Or maybe, he’ll just dump all of that and go with gut instinct. Either which way, we are in for some very interesting times.