Just as he had done in the run-up to the series opener against South Africa, Sai Sudharsan went through a long batting session during India’s optional training ahead of the second Test.
But will he play in the second and final Test in Guwahati, which gets underway on Saturday? Not easy to answer.
It has been learnt that regular skipper Shubman Gill will be travelling to Guwahati with the rest of the squad on Wednesday, although his chances of playing in the match are slim as he’s recovering from the neck injury sustained on Day II of the Eden Test.
Who will be the replacement for Gill in Guwahati? Given the amount of batting practice Sudharsan underwent on Tuesday, one may say he’s the frontrunner, though Devdutt Padikkal too spent quite some time at nets.
But for three days on the trot before the first Test, which began last Friday, Sudharsan had done his nets on the practice pitches as well as on the centre wickets, only to be dropped from the XI.
Washington Sundar was promoted up the order at No. 3 as India went in with three spinner all-rounders (Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel being the other two) and a specialist spinner in the form of chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav.
So, in the series-deciding Test too, there’s no guarantee that Sudharsan will be
the straightaway replacement if skipper Gill doesn’t play. Sudharsan, however,
did seem to be getting some words of advice from head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak during his sessions.
Seamer all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy rejoined the squad on Monday night. He was released for the India A one-dayers against South Africa A before the opening Test. Nitish’s selection in the XI, thus, cannot entirely be ruled out.
Is left right?
Six of the eight wickets South Africa’s in-form off-spinner Simon Harmer took in the first Test were of left-handed batters. Dhruv Jurel was the only right-handed batsman Harmer dismissed in both innings at the Eden.
Harmer has a greater success rate against left-handers, and including Sudharsan in Guwahati will mean adding yet another left-handed batter in the XI.
As for Nitish, he’s a right-hander and, importantly, has the team management’s backing.
“Who plays in the XI is about tactics, while it also depends on the nature of the pitch and what the team management wants from the players in the squad,” former India opener WV Raman told The Telegraph.
“Now, talking of having too many left-handers when the opposition plays an off-spinner, will everyone in South Africa start batting right-handed just because they have to deal with one or two off-break bowlers? To win matches, you need to take charge in the key moments, which South Africa did in the previous Test,” Raman pointed out.
It’s for India to decide whether they would add another all-rounder to the team or back a specialist batter.
Reverse-sweep practice
Late in Tuesday’s optional session at Eden Gardens, both Sudharsan and Jurel, with a single pad, practised playing the reverse sweep on the centre pitches.
Jurel, in particular, had a longer session practising the reverse-sweep, taking
throwdowns on one of the centre wickets from a very
short distance.
Is this an indication that Jurel will be aiming the sweep and reverse-sweep more to counter the Proteas spinners? At the Eden, he looked quite set in both innings, but was outsmarted by Harmer on both occasions on a challenging, tricky wicket.
Irrespective of the conditions at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, India do need the calm and composed Jurel to click, whether he bats in the top four or in the middle order.