If reports are to be believed India have asked for bouncy pitches for both the Test matches against West Indies, the first starting in Rajkot on Thursday. And for various reasons, despite the claim that it’s unfair to local curators, that should be the way to go for this world No 1 Indian team who should have too much quality for West Indies anyway.

For a context-less home series against the West Indies that feels like a pit-stop before the fast lanes re-emerge in Australia later this year, Virat Kohli will and should have his eye on the bigger picture. After disappointments in South Africa and England, the tour Down Under is going to be another acid test for this ambitious Indian team.

With that in mind, the team that India select for the first Test will provide a few pointers.

Batting lineup

The obvious big question here is: who opens the batting? The two openers who played the first Test in England — M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan — are not even part of the squad anymore. Instead, KL Rahul appears to be new front-runner with Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal vying for the other slot.

In this writer’s opinion, Kohli shouldn’t be playing this series which would have seen both the youngsters get a go in two Test matches. The Indian captain’s kit-bag is filled with bats that scored plenty of runs in England this year and in Australia before — form is not an issue for him.

But seeing as that is not likely, either Shaw or Agarwal will walk out to open with Rahul in Rajkot.

Going by the pecking order, all signs point to a senior debut for Shaw. The precociously talented Mumbai batsman has been knocking on the doors for a while and was flown into England for the last two Tests when Vijay was dropped.

Agarwal, for his part, couldn’t stop scoring runs in the 2017-18 season, in which he amassed 2253 runs in 36 innings across formats according to ESPNCricinfo.

What should ultimately tip the scale in Agarwal’s is his stroke-filled 111-ball 90 in the warm-up game for Board President’s XI against Shannon Gabriel and Co. In the same match, Shaw fell for 8 — with a choice as tough as selecting one of the two, this should clinch it in favour for Agarwal, who has waited long for his opportunity and at 27, should be at his prime. The 18-year-old Shaw, who is certainly a potential star for the future, can afford to wait a tad longer.

The rest of the lineup perhaps picks itself, unless Kohli does a Kohli and pulls off a surprise or two. Cheteshwar Pujara at No 3, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane following his captain at No 5 looks like a given. Rishabh Pant is a certain pick, but whether he bats at No 6 or 7, boils down to the combination the team management prefers.

All-rounder slot

Hanuma Vihari had an eventful debut at The Oval, and should consider himself very unlucky if he is not in the XI for the Test following that, despite scoring just 3 runs in the warm-up match. With Hardik Pandya still recovering, the usual all-rounder spot is vacant in the side and there is every chance that Kohli might decide to play five bowlers. But, if he puts trust in his front-line bowling attack to handle the challenges posed by the West Indies batting line-up — as he should — Vihari will retain his position in the middle order and can chip in with his part-time off-breaks.

After recovering from his injury in England, Ashwin will take up the mantle of the all-rounder in the side with Ravindra Jadeja — who impressed at The Oval — adding depth to the batting line-up.

Bowling combination

For Kohli and Ravi Shastri, the five-bowler theory has been a mantra when it comes to Test matches. Many believe, chief among them Sunil Gavaskar, the think-tank repeteadly erred by playing a batsman short in the first four Test matches against England and by the time they decided to change that tact, the series was lost.

At home, the think-tank has stuck to their guns with playing four bowlers and an all-rounder in Pandya, whenever he has been in the line-up. In his absence, and with hopes of getting their batting lineup sorted for Australia, one hopes Kohli opts for a more straight-forward 7-4 combination. The first choice bowling lineup seems to be a rather straightforward decision with Ashwin and Jadeja providing the spin threat with Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav taking the new ball.

Posing a threat to Vihari’s slot would then be Kuldeep Yadav or a third seamer in Shardul Thakur. But with Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar expected to board the flight to Australia, trying out another seamer seems to be a futile exercise. It is a straight 50-50 call between Vihari and Kuldeep, who is no mug with the bat, with the X-factor and the potential to run through West Indies coming in his favour. For now, though, as detailed above, Vihari should get the nod.

But, hey, we all know Kohli loves to stir up a debate at the toss and make the first session of the Test match all the more intriguing with his selection calls.

The Field’s choice for India’s XI at Rajkot

KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav