Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan? Siraj or Washington Sundar? Concerns over batting leads to flatter track, as India wrestle over playing XI for second Test

As the Indian players headed to the team bus after their optional training session on Thursday, their head coach Rahul Dravid walked to the centre of the square. This was his second such visit of the day; at noon with the Vizag sun showing early glimpses of what upcoming summer would be, he had the groundstaff remove the tarpaulin covers to have a feel of the surface. Post his chat with the groundsmen, the tarpaulin covers were replaced with sack-clothes to ensure adequate air flow and the moisture stays intact.

In the first Test in Hyderabad, the early-morning moisture was a reason the ball spun the quickest in the first session of the opening day. And even in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam where the winter is showing signs of withdrawal, moisture has been a factor in the morning.What the sack-clothes cover, that will retain more moisture than the tarpaulin, will do to the pitch on Friday morning is anybody’s guess.

Just like guessing India’s approach to being 0-1 down in a long series. Against Australia in 2017, after losing the first Test on a rank turner in Pune, they responded in the most aggressive manner at Bengaluru. Then in 2020, after the 36 in Adelaide, they responded by landing the most unexpected punches in the Boxing Day Test. In 2021, last time England toured here, India bounced back from losing the first Test, winning the next three. If anything, this team is known to be slow to get off the blocks in a long series. But time and again when they recover from setbacks, they have shown the most ruthless side of them.

🗣️🗣️ It’s a proud moment to be playing in front of your home crowd.

Proud and focused @KonaBharat is geared up for the 2nd #INDvENG Test in Visakhapatnam 🙌#TeamIndia | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/2eUkG5vDSN

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2024

However, as they head to the second Test, the lingering question on everyone’s lips is whether India would be able to recover from the hammer blow that Bazballers inflicted on them. Unlike the previous occasions, where India had all the resources to bounce back, and a solid game plan to aid, they seem a pale shadow of themselves at the moment. They are winless in their last three home matches. And for a team that needs to put its neck up or be buried in the avalanche of Bazball, they have to do without Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. They now have to do it with not just inexperienced batsmen, but with two of them — Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer – under pressure to find runs.

Problem aplenty

India resorting to turning tracks has been their way out of trouble in the recent past, backing their batting unit to score more than the opposition. But here, that they are set to play on the most batting friendly surface of recent times tells how much of a worry the brittle batting line-up is to the management. The toss will also play a role as both teams might want to bat first on a pitch that’s expected to take turn much later than what has become normal these days.

The last time India played on what is a traditional home pitch which would start to take turn on Day 4 and 5 was in Chennai, where England out-batted them on way to a famous win. It made them switch to turners. Now, the hosts are putting all their hopes on their skilful spinners – R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel – to find a way to crack Bazball. But here is a statutory warning: The Bazball is at its most dangerous on flat decks.

Playing XI not clear yet

If the pitch-makeup isn’t enough, India are huddled in deliberations with regards to the make-up of the XI. For Rahul’s spot, India are torn between choosing Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan. On Thursday both sweated it out at the nets, with all eyes trained on them. And with Jadeja missing, Kuldeep is all set to feature in his first home Test in three years and will make the spin combo. However, India are also pondering whether they need a replacement for Jadeja, the batsman. Hence, Washington Sundar is being looked at, and if he has to get a look in, then Mohammed Siraj has to sit-out in a venue that has aided reverse-swing thanks to the outfield, which is relatively hard.

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But it is not all doom for India. There might be a lack of clarity, if not a sense of confusion, as a collective unit, but individual brilliance can still save the day. When they bounced back from past set-backs, they did so on the back of strong individual brilliance. If it was Ashwin in Bengaluru after Pune, at the MCG it was Ajinkya Rahane. And in 2021 against Chennai, it was Rohit Sharma in the first innings followed by Ashwin in the second. With England’s spin attack missing Jack Leach over here, they would be heavily banking on James Anderson. If one of Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal can set the tone at the top, they could well provide the spark that India are desperately seeking. All will be then well with their world again.

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