India’s Asia Cup win on Friday could have clouded selectors’ judgement in the past, but it seems like that may not be the case anymore. After all, look at the evidence on hand: Rohit Sharma led the side to a title win, India’s first since the 2013 tri-series in West Indies. The Player of the tournament, Shikhar Dhawan was in red hot form and simply unstoppable. However, he didn’t find a place in the Test squad for the series against West Indies.
No More Confusion
In most circumstances in the past, the Indian cricket selectors would have been ‘forced’ to pick men in form in the Test squad. India’s selectors have committed this mistake over the past 10 years at least and that has led to lopsided performances, especially in Test cricket.
No one is more symptomatic of this problem than Dhawan, who has benefited most from this confusion over form in different formats of cricket. As a result, Dhawan has managed to book a spot in the Test squad over the last four years, despite non-performance over the last four years at least.
Dhawan was meant to be like for like replacement for Gautam Gambhir when he stormed into Test cricket with a blistering hundred on Test debut against Australia in 2013. But since then, barring stray performances in New Zealand and then in home like conditions in Sri Lanka in 2017, he has practically been under-performing in red ball cricket.
Patchy Form
In fact since the 2014 English tour, Dhawan has not completed a full Test series away from the subcontinent. He has struggled to strike form in red ball cricket, then he has struck form in ODI cricket and has then made a return to the Test XI at home.
This cycle has been played out regularly since 2014 and it seemed like in 2017 that the cycle would have ended finally when Dhawan was not picked for the Sri Lanka tour. However, Dhawan returned to the team, thanks to injury to Murali Vijay and as expected scored runs.
But in South Africa and then in England, Dhawan’s luck ran out. In South Africa he did not play after the first Test, but in England Dhawan made a return to the XI after being dropped for the second Test. However, this vote of confidence did not result in runs.
Cynics may have felt that history was going to repeat itself when Dhawan scored runs galore in the Asia Cup. It was almost as if the same script is being played out over and over again. But it looks like that cynics can be finally happy. The selection panel has finally run out of patience after five years of investing in Dhawan as a Test opener.
Break From the Past
In a way what the selectors have done is given a strong sense of how the white ball and red ball squads are going to be heading in different directions. Dhawan is almost certain not to play in Test cricket ever for India again. The same holds true for Dhawan’s long-term partner, Murali Vijay, who has also lost confidence of the think-tank.
It is very clear now that the Test squad is going to move away from the Dhawan-Vijay combination, at least in the foreseeable future which is till the Australia tour. Their replacements, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal will get a perfect opportunity to ease into Test cricket, and that too at home.
But that does not in any way lessen the pressure they will face when they head to Australia later this year.
Depth in Indian Cricket
Dhawan’s ODI opening partner, Rohit Sharma, too is no longer in the scheme of things of the selectors in Test cricket. This is a very strong statement yet again. In the past the selectors could have been swayed by the Asia Cup title win amongst other things, but not anymore.
This is the start of a new phase in the Indian Test squad. In many ways it also shows the depth that Indian cricket has right now. The Asia Cup squad and the Test squad appear to be as different as chalk and cheese.
Mixed Message
If there is one jarring note then it has to do with the exclusion of the reserve middle-order batsman, Karun Nair. He sat through the entire English Test tour and Hanuma Vihari got a break ahead of him in the final Test at the Oval. But with a home Test series not needing a larger squad, the selectors have chosen to let Nair play domestic cricket and stay in form. He is certain to be a reserve batsman for the Australia tour.
There is, however, consistency in the selection of the reserve fast bowler in Shardul Thakur. The Mumbai paceman has been travelling with the red ball and white ball squads for the past year. It shows that the team think-tank is keen on him and he is close to getting a regular, longer run.
Blessed With Riches
The resting of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah also illustrates the depth in the fast bowling stocks. The fact that India can call up equally competent quicks in Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav shows the value of managing the workload of the assets that the squad has.
Perhaps the most exciting selection of them all is that of Mohammed Siraj. The Hyderabad fast bowler has been in terrific form, he is there just to soak in the atmosphere for now. His turn in the Test eleven will come sooner rather than later.
This could well be the core of the 17-18 member Test squad that will tour Australia for what represents India’s best chance to win a series there for the first-time ever. But we have had similar false alarms in the past, where an easy home series clouds our judgement.
Hopefully, the selectors have given the first indication that we have had a clear break from the past.
(Chandresh Narayanan is a former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and current media manager of Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)
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