You cannot have a cushion for batting order in Tests, need specialists in side, says Ankola

New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) An aspect which has caught the attention of Indian team on their ongoing tour of Australia has been the frequent changes in the playing eleven of their matches so far.

Be it the batting order change or having more all-rounders in playing eleven, thus increasing load of main bowlers and inability to take 20 wickets, India’s playing eleven compositions in this Australia tour has been the topic of endless discussions.

Salil Ankola, who served as member of India men’s team selection committee, believes one can’t have a cushion for batting order in Tests, citing the longer format being suitable more for specialist players.

“Tests, ODIs and T20Is are different formats of the game. Like, there’s a saying in English, horses for courses. When you’re selecting team for a Test match, you have to have specialists in the side – like the bowlers who are going to give you wickets, and the batters who are going to score runs.”

“But if you’re going to keep on selecting players and thinking about getting a cushion for batting order – like, you cannot have a cushion for batting. You have people who are supposed to score runs, and take wickets.”

“It was surprising to see the team for the last match we played. There were Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy – three all-rounders. The composition also makes you wonder like it is only for the cushion of the batting, so that we can get some runs.”

“So, we have to sit down, get thinking hat on and see exactly where we are going wrong. In today’s days, we have a lot of data on hand. We can use the data to our reference. Now with data, social media, and live television, everybody can see exactly what’s going on.”

“If you try to cushion anything, it doesn’t work, especially in Test cricket. In ODI, we need all-rounders, then in T20s, we need a lot of all-rounders,” said Ankola in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Barring Reddy, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, the rest of Indian batting card hasn’t been heavily amongst runs, something which Ankola has taken note of. “We need batters to back the bowlers with some runs, then only things happen. We have seen Yashasvi score 80s in both the innings.”

“But then he was not given proper support and Reddy, who is a new guy, goes out to get a hundred and, see he is more of a batting all-rounder, not a bowling all-rounder. So, you can’t depend on him for bowling much. He will give you one wicket, and he has proven that by giving us breakthrough in one or two Tests.”

“But he is not that express pace or something of the sort – just a leisurely 125-127 speed is there. Very good fielder, no doubt, and the hundred he made in Melbourne was simply excellent. But then you have to send him above, you can’t send him at number seven as it’s not making sense. So, the composition of the playing XI and whole team also matters a lot in Sydney.”

While advocating for Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel to be given a look-in, Ankola wished for Indian batters to not play any rash shots in the Sydney Test, starting on Friday. “Sarfaraz and Dhruv are warming the bench, so it’s about time (to play them). Dhruv has scored a lot of runs in pressure situations, and we have seen that. Sarfaraz has made 150 and he has sat out from the matches now.”

“We have seen that whenever Yashasvi also doesn’t get runs, the whole batting order collapses. So, we have to have some people who get runs over there. It was very lucky that catches have been dropped of KL Rahul when he was batting. Everybody is doing the same kind of mistakes again and again (in terms of shot selection).”

“I mean, we have coaches like Gautam, Abhishek Nayar and Morne Morkel there. Bowlers are doing their job fantastically. But batters have to score, no? If runs are not there, what will the bowler do? VK (Virat Kohli) has to get his thing right, he scored only one hundred. I look up to VK because I love to watch him bat. So, let’s hope for the best, and hope we play cricketing shots.”

Ankola believes India needs a good third and fourth fast bowler also to support Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. “When the India A tour was touring in Australia, I think the highest wicket-taker was Mukesh Kumar (11 scalps). Surprisingly, he was not included and then we have Prasidh Krishna (10 scalps) over there, who is warming the bench.”

Ankola, who played a Test and 20 ODIs for India, admitted to being upset over India’s path for next year’s World Test Championship final being out of their control, especially after losing 3-0 to New Zealand – their first-ever clean sweep defeat at home.

“We are playing a five Test match series after a long time, so, it’s pretty hard on the boys also. Who wouldn’t want India to qualify for the WTC here? But the way things are going, if we are dependent upon us winning, then waiting for Australia to lose against Sri Lanka, then I don’t think it works that way.”

“The worst thing was to lose a series against New Zealand, as it’s something which never happened before – the team coming in India and we losing to the touring side in Tests. I’m sure Sydney will test the mental strength of our guys, because Australians are going to go all out for tomorrow’s game.”

“I was hoping that Mitchell Starc would be unfit, because he was feeling his back the other day in the second innings in Melbourne. But no, he is playing and things would look very difficult if we don’t score.”

Apart from being 2-1 behind in the series and performances not being upto the mark, questions over the Indian team’s smooth transition and unrest in dressing room have made headlines too, and the need of the hour is for Indian cricket to rise above all the challenges it finds itself at the moment.

“We are all upset about the whole thing, because we have never lost the way we are losing. We have won in Australia the last time we went there, when Ajinkya was the captain – he captained and we won. So, it’s not that we cannot do it. But the thing is, there has to be something. Like, I don’t see people staying there to get runs.”

“Every team goes through a lean patch and a makeover. At the moment, we are under that stage. Like Ashwin not being a part of the team anymore, so we have to see who steps in. It’s not that we don’t have guys who can take their place; we have got guys who can take their place.”

“But what happens in the dressing room, that’s a different thing. I mean, it should not be leaked out also, and it should not be discussed also by anybody from the side. I’m not saying that something else is discussed, but I just hope we get out of this rut we are in at the moment.”

–IANS

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