Pant is Test-cricket ready

It took well more than a year, but once he returned, Rishabh Pant took off from where he had left before the horrifying accident of late 2022. His outings at the IPL and the T20 World Cup convinced most that the Pant of yore was back, but he kept wicket in only one ODI since his comeback.

While there was little doubt over the fact that Pant the batter was set to reclaim his Test spot, a question lingered: was his body ready for the stress of keeping wicket in red-ball cricket?

Pant did well. After Shubman Gill’s magnificent catch restricted his first innings at seven, Pant exploded in the second, evoking memories of the many pre-injury Pantisms with a reverse scoop off Akash Deep and a diverse array of strokes against Kuldeep Yadav. Just as significant was the fact that he kept wicket without fuss in both India A innings. Looks like he is back.

Akash Deep wins first round

No Jasprit Bumrah, no Mohammed Shami, no Mohammed Siraj. Even Shardul Thakur is not around. If the next batch of India’s unprecedented supply chain of fast bowlers – some of whom have already played Test cricket – were to make an impact, it was here, in this round.

Khaleel Ahmed, Akash, and Avesh Khan all impressed for India A at Bengaluru. Of them, Akash looked the most dangerous, following his 4-60 with 5-56, and is probably ahead in the race if India rest Bumrah against Bangladesh and Shami does not recover.

For India B, Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini caught the eye in their contrasting “genres” in the first innings, but it was the left-handed Yash Dayal who ran through the India A top order in the second.

The India D seamers – Anshul Kamboj, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Chauhan – impressed in short bursts at Anantapur, the more bowler-friendly of the two venues. After an exceptional first-innings spell of 4-33 (it was 2-0 at one point), however, Harshit Rana of India C fell apart in the second. His new-ball partner Arshdeep Singh, the T20 World Cup winner, did not look as probing as some of his rivals.

The Kuldeep-Axar battle intensifies

Since he broke into the Indian side as Ravindra Jadeja’s like-for-like replacement in early 2021, Axar Patel had a curious role: he played only if India needed three spinners (or they needed two and one of the Big Two missed out). Kuldeep Yadav was fourth on the pecking order, and one can see why: until the end of 2023, Axar averaged 36.64 with the bat and 19.48 with the ball in Test cricket.

Against England in early 2024, however, Kuldeep edged ahead. Now a much-improved bowler, Kuldeep’s left-arm wrist-spin provided variety that Axar’s left-arm finger-spin did not, for India already had a left-arm finger-spinner in Jadeja. By the time the series got over, Kuldeep had firmly established himself as the third of the troika.

At the Duleep Trophy, thus, the onus was on Axar – the superior batter – to prove a point. Kuldeep had to defend his spot. At Anantapur, Axar walked out at 34-5 and hit 86 with six fours and six sixes, and added 28 in the second innings for good measure. He also took 3-100 in the match – not great numbers, but then, Kuldeep had 1-108. Axar has probably not done enough to replace the incumbent, but he has stayed in contention.

Ashwin's potential heirs

It is difficult to find a greater off-spinner than R Ashwin in the history of Indian Test cricket, but there is no obvious backup for him, at least in the format. Washington Sundar’s batting gives him an edge, while Tanush Kotian is coming off a wonderful season for Mumbai. In the Duleep Trophy first round, neither bowled enough to make an impact, as is often the case with attacks with five bowlers.

Eyes were on Delhi’s Hrithik Shokeen, but his 15.5-over game – yet again, in a five-bowler attack – yielded a solitary wicket. The only off-spinner to emerge triumphant after the first round Madhya Pradesh’s Saransh Jain, who followed his 2-16 with 4-92. The latter spell came in an innings of six wickets. But then, Jain is 31...

Rahul versus Sarfaraz versus the rest

Assuming India stick to their five-bowler plan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, and Pant will share five slots. That leaves room for only one specialist batter in the top six.

Dropped from the Test side, KL Rahul had to wait until a spot opened up, of a wicketkeeper who would bat at No.6. In Test cricket, he was used to neither role, but he hit a magnificent hundred at Centurion and did not make glaring errors with the big gloves. He then hit 86 against England before an injury kept him out. Stepping in for him, Sarfaraz Khan debuted and hit three fifties in five innings.

Competing against them was Shreyas Iyer, who had lost his national contract and fell out of contention after innings of 35, 13, 27, 29 against England. He regained some ground by leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to long-awaited title success. There was also Dhruv Jurel, whose twin gems at Ranchi – in only his second Test – had earned him accolades. Pant will reclaim the big gloves, but Jurel will remain his understudy in the squad, and can make a case for breaking through as a specialist bat.

In the match, Rahul top-scored in each innings for India A with 37 and 57. The latter came in a valiant effort to save a match after they were 99-6. After a first-innings failure, Sarfaraz launched a furious onslaught in the second, hitting Avesh for five consecutive fours to finish with a 36-ball 46. Iyer, leading India D at Anantapur, made 54 in the second innings. And while Jurel’s eight catches in the match will help him retain the second keeper’s slot, he fell behind in the race.

For now, Rahul seems set to reclaim his spot, but one of Iyer and Sarfaraz may make it to the squad.

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