India v England: Hardik Pandya’s selection could be Virat Kohli’s ploy to play the extra spinner

KL Rahul. Shikhar Dhawan. Rohit Sharma. Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

This is the injury list for the Indian team with only three Tests done in this 17-match long home season. Currently, the openers are just getting started on their rehabilitation process and should be available at some point over the course of this month. Kumar is available, but the wise men decided not to throw him in the deep end without testing his match fitness first, when they picked the squad for the first two Tests against England on Wednesday.

Rohit Sharma’s case is a bit perplexing. For once, he was looking good in Test cricket. Against New Zealand, he scored three half-centuries in three matches, perhaps his best yield from a Test series in recent times. One of them, 82 in Kolkata, actually saved the game for India who were struggling at a precarious 106/6 in the second innings.

For once, Rohit has got his timing wrong

So much so, it can be said that he performed better in Tests than in the ensuing One-Day Internationals, wherein he scored only one fifty. When was the last time this happened with him? Skipper Virat Kohli’s faith in his Test credentials was finally being paid off, and just then, to put a spanner in the works, he strained his thigh. Consequently, he is now out for six to eight weeks with the possibility of needing surgery. And his Test career is halted once more.

Four spots thus opened up, and allowed some chopping and changing for the MSK Prasad-led selection panel, as they sat down to pick their first proper Test squad. And half the changes they rang in brought some surprise.

Here is the squad for the first two Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper).

Let us get the unsurprising ones out of the way, first. Karun Nair is expectedly included in place of Rohit Sharma, for he has been the next-choice middle-order batsman since the Sri Lanka tour last year. If Sharma continues to remain unavailable through the entire series, he will make his debut at some stage. There is also news that Rahul might be available from the second Test, and as such the selectors deemed it fit to go with only two full-time openers.

Ishant Sharma is fit and expectedly back. Will he be included straight away at the expense of Umesh Yadav and partner Mohammed Shami for the new ball? It cannot be said, depending on conditions on offer as well as the various permutations and combinations possible, as becomes clear here onwards.

The Pandya surprise

For, Hardik Pandya, who has only played 16 first-class matches, has been included in this squad of fifteen. “We all have been trying to find an all-rounder after Kapil Dev. In case we play three spinners, he can be the second seamer and also can bat,” was the explanation given by the chairman of selectors.

“We all know he is a bit hyper. But he has worked hard under Rahul Dravid (during the India A tour of Australia) and under chief coach Anil Kumble. If you look at his performances, his pace has increased. His overall personality has mellowed down. He did extremely well in the ODI series and also during the A-tour Down Under,” added Prasad.

Clearly, this is the first sign of the Dravid-Kumble combination impacting India’s fortunes in the long term. The question to ask here though is, if the timing is right? While it is true that Indian cricket has been searching for a true-blue all-rounder, it pertains more to overseas Tests than the ones played in their own backyard. Here, the spinners are good enough to do the job, while the pacers provide assistance with the new ball as well as with reverse swing.

So, where does Pandya fit in? The team management sees him in the No. 6 or No. 7 role, which would allow them to include three spinners as well as another pacer in a five-bowler attack. Ravichandran Ashwin performed that role in the West Indies, allowing for the two-spinners-plus-three-pacers combination. It is viable that the think tank is not keen on placing this responsibility on Ashwin during an important series with five back-to-back Tests.

Now, Pandya was successful in Dharamsala, where conditions were equitable to those he would find abroad. His pace has increased certainly, but bounce and movement there added an extra element to his bowling. He returned figures of 3-31 in the first ODI, but then could only take one wicket in three innings in Delhi, Mohali and Ranchi. The way he bowled mattered more in those ODIs, but in Test cricket, wickets gain importance. And that last match is vital herein. It was a slow wicket at MS Dhoni’s home ground in Ranchi, and on similar Test pitches that do not assist the pacers much, Pandya could struggle to have an impact in the second seamer role.

Kohli depends on his pacers to provide impact with the new ball as well as with reverse swing later on. Pandya’s inclusion will negate this factor, for he has not yet showcased his ability with the old ball in limited-overs’ cricket, the exception of two new balls in ODI granted. At best, he provides a cushion for the skipper to include three spinners, and his inclusion – when it does come about – will be keenly watched.

Four spinners to cause mayhem in English ranks

This debate has sidelined the inclusion of off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who had earlier also been included in the Test squad ahead of the Kolkata Test against New Zealand. It has also overshadowed the fact that India have gone in with four full-time spinners in their squad. It is a wonder if England’s deep batting line-up had an impact on this thinking, as also the fact that they boast of quite a few left-handers too.

Interestingly enough, picking four spinners does not necessarily reflect on the kind of pitches that might be rolled out for this series. It does however impact what England’s team management might be thinking, after they were steamrolled by Bangladesh spinners in Dhaka.

You can call it mind games, irrespective of whether Yadav – or indeed Amit Mishra – make it to the playing eleven along with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, or not.

The Rajkot Test cannot come quickly enough.