Shreyas Iyer had just faced a few deliveries from the throwdown specialist in the nets on Tuesday afternoon when one of them caught him unawares; it reared up from a good length spot to strike him on the right forearm. Wincing in pain, Shreyas threw his bat onto the ground before clutching his hand and seeking the physio’s attention.
Moments later, he tried to continue batting, failed and eventually walked off. The worrying signs had left head coach Rahul Dravid with a creased forehead as he left the nets to inspect the extent of the injury.
The ice pack somehow relieved Shreyas of the agony as he returned to batting much to the relief of the team management. With Virat Kohli having decided to pull himself out of the first two Tests of the series because of “personal reasons”, the Indian top-order has the looks of a side in transition with KL Rahul moving up to No.4 before Shreyas walks in. Rookie Rajat Patidar has been a late addition to the squad.
Leaving aside Rohit Sharma, the combined experience of India’s top-5 in the opener will be 85 Tests. Not very encouraging signs for a team which has not lost a series at home since 2012-13 and will be up against an England side which is thriving on the Bazball philosophy, originated by their head coach Brendon McCullum under the stewardship of captain Ben Stokes.
The Bazball strategy prioritises high scoring, playing aggressively and applying all the pressure onto the opponents before the script is flipped. This master plan will face its biggest test in the series on pitches that are expected to be rank turners. But will Rohit’s team stick to the time-tested policy which has helped them achieve success at home?
The first look at the wicket at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal suggests that it could be a slow turner, not the sort which will help the spinners from the first session.
The grass has been shaved on both ends of the pitch with a slight covering in the middle to bind the surface.
Certain areas seem drier than the rest and by early evening, the groundstaff were selectively watering the whole area to leave a bit of mystery alive.
“Hard one to say,” head coach Rahul Dravid said two days before the start. “..It looks a good one from what I’ve seen. May spin a little bit. How quickly and how fast, I’m not sure. But might spin a little bit certainly as the game goes on.”
Dravid confirmed what The Telegraph had reported on January 14 that KL Rahul will play as a specialist batter leaving the wicketkeeping duties to either KS Bharat or rookie Dhruv Jurel. Barring any last-minute change, the think-tank will go in with three spinners and two pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
“Obviously, Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa... But considering it’s five Test matches... we felt we would go with another keeping option, considering the weather, considering the conditions. So obviously it’s a selection toss-up between the two other keepers,” Dravid said.
England have a superior strike-rate of 75.48 with the bat in the Bazball era compared to India’s 54.57 in the same period. McCullum has claimed that his tactics will rescue Test cricket but whether they survive the test on Indian pitches could go a long way in determining its efficacy.
