India's incumbent servicemen receive call of duty

Team selection is a tricky business. The prowess of the past and recent form remain subjects of much discussion in the corridors of power. And then it's down to the wisdom of the panel as to which they give precedence to in a dicey dilemma. Both India and Australia were sailing in the same boat with respect to their opening combinations and hence, it was presumed that the unofficial rubbers would have the final say. Although the smog is yet to be lifted off the hosts' paradox, further accentuated by concussion injuries, India have rebooted to default setting and placed their trust in the incumbents. 

Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, the two adversaries contending for a slot alongside Mayank Agarwal at the top, had begun their stint in Tasmania with a duck each in the warm-up game at Drummoyne Oval. Their digs in the second essay weren't too persuasive either, with the duo flashing their blades as if in a hurry to get done with the goddamn thing and hit the Subway joint around the block. The dress rehearsal at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) did warrant India the assurance that they hadn't backed the wrong horses but also left them with a sweet headache in the process. While Shaw batted the best he had since an awful IPL where he couldn't get the ball off the square, for a stroke-filled 40 in the first innings, Gill too matched his counterpart, shot for shot, to produce a blustery 43. What must have sown the seeds of doubt in the management's mind, though, was Gill's grandeur worth 63 in the last roll of the dice. Notwithstanding his relatively better performance in the interview, the recruiter that is India, as it stands, has opted for prior work experience in Shaw's resume, which boasts of a tyrannical ton and a couple of fifties in just seven stints at the crease.

If Shaw is harbouring dreams as ambitious as that of runs on Australian pitches, for starters, he needs to weed out the bad habit of fishing around the off-stump. His manner of dismissals in three of the four innings till now have followed a similar pattern. In both of his brief stays at Drummoyne Oval and in the latter one at SCG, Shaw has been found guilty of slashing or driving loosely away from the body at his peril. This by no means is the subcontinent where you could strap a blindfold on and milk it through the line all day long, irrespective of whether your feet even bother to move. This is Australia and a whole different kettle of fish, where wafts, of course, are fraught with danger as the ball skids and kicks, sometimes quite nastily, off the surface. 

Not unlike how Gill almost threw a monkey wrench into Shaw's prospects, Rishabh Pant's bombastic hundred in the second innings at SCG seemed to have killed the debate over the wicket-keeper's spot. Even though Wriddhiman Saha had already oiled his engine into functionality with a steadfast 54* in the long-format tour opener, Pant's pyrotechnics which consisted of nine fours and six sixes was too hot to handle. Saha hadn't featured in an overseas encounter since Cape Town 2018 owing to recurring injury setbacks whereas Pant has in his kitty a century Down Under, hence the possibility of the youngster donning the gloves couldn't be swept off the table. But again, India weighed the pros and cons and found merit in awarding Saha a dash at redemption, thanks to his unflinching loyalty and commitment to the team's cause over the years. 

Ishant Sharma's niggle had left behind a void so large that India feared for their life, especially since there's no Bhuvneshwar Kumar in sight. Umesh Yadav's name is always viewed with a hint of suspicion given his profligacy in terms of line, albeit he was a revelation at Drummoyne Oval with penny-pinching control and consistency. The raw speed he brings to the party will assist in India's bid to extract lateral movement from the pink cherry amidst the towering presence of floodlights. The third pacer's box ticked as well, Virat Kohli and his troops are all set to take the bull by the horn in its own backyard.

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