3 Surprises India should spring at Edgbaston

India and England were engaged in an engrossing battle in the T20 and ODI series. While the visitors were victorious in the T20 series, England won the ODI series to even the scores. It is now time for the Test series to take centre stage and be the deciding factor in this enthralling battle between cricket’s superpowers.

The first test match takes place at Edgbaston in Birmingham. England have not been the force of yesteryear. They drew their most recent test series against India’s arch rivals, Pakistan. India, on the other hand, arrived in England as the No.1 test team. Before their drubbing of Afghanistan, India gave a good account of themselves in South Africa, losing a closely-fought series 2-1.

As the serene, white of Test cricket replaces the vibrant colours of limited overs cricket, there are a lot of unanswered questions. None more so than India’s team selection.

Through this article, we would look at a few surprises India should spring to catch the English off-guard. If India get off to a winning start at Edgbaston, a fourth test series victory in the United Kingdom might not be far away.

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1. Play KL Rahul instead of Shikhar Dhawan

KL Rahul arrived on English shores on the back of an astounding IPL, where he scored tons of runs. He started the tour brilliantly, scoring a match winning hundred in the first T20.

In Tests, Rahul has not yet come up with the performances his talent warrants. However, over the past year, Rahul has matured as a batsman and now seems destined to make his mark on the Test circuit. In the warm-up game against Essex, Rahul struck a solid 58 in the first innings while remaining unbeaten on 36 in the second essay.

Dhawan, on the other hand, bagged a pair, facing a grand total of 4 balls throughout the match. Though Dhawan is a wonderful stroke-maker, his technique has found him wanting in bowler-friendly conditions. In England, Dhawan has played 6 innings, scoring an aggregate of 122 runs with a highest score of 37. On his last trip to England, he was dropped mid-way in favour of Gautam Gambhir.

Technically, Rahul is better equipped to handle the swinging and seaming conditions on offer in England. To supplement this, Rahul is in a better touch than Dhawan. The last thing India would want is to expose Kohli to the new ball. The risk of that happening seems to be very high if Dhawan comes out to open. Hence, the Indian think-tank needs to take a bold call and drop Dhawan in favour of KL Rahul.

2. Play Rishabh Pant as a specialist batsman

Cheteshwar Pujara signed up for Yorkshire to get a know-how of the English conditions before the crunch series against England. His stint at Yorkshire this time around was uninspiring. He did not scale the heights expected of him.

Pujara was dropped on India’s tour to Sri Lanka, back in 2015. He regained his place soon after and has not looked back since. However, after a string of unconvincing displays in South Africa and more recently, in England, a doubt has been cast over his inclusion. In the warm up game against Essex, Pujara looked fazed and did not get a lot of runs under his belt. He got out on 1 in the 1st innings before perishing for 23 in the 2nd.

A case can be made for Rahane to shift to No.3 as he looked in good touch in the two warm-up games and include the talented Rishabh Pant as a middle order batsman. Pant has been in England playing for India ‘A’ and has stitched together a good run of scores. In the lone test against England Lions, he scored fifties in both innings against a strong bowling unit.

With a left-hander in the mix, it would also help counter the threat of Adil Rashid. He has all the shots in the book and is showing signs of maturing as a batsman. The time is right for him to be given his due for his domestic performances. With him in the middle order, India can also look to attack the English spinners and put them under severe pressure.

In ordinary circumstances, Pujara would be a certainty to play. However, this series is anything but ordinary. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Looking at form and not reputation, India should take the punt on Pant.

3. Play two spinners

The idea of playing with two spinners in England is probably the most left-field of ideas. However, England has been going through an extreme heat wave and one can expect the pitches to be a little dry.

Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled the English batsmen in the ODI and T20 series and should find a place in the eleven. The most impressive aspect of Kuldeep’s bowling was that he was able to prize out wickets when the English batsmen were content to defend. With the Test matches set to follow a similar pattern, Kuldeep would fancy his chances against England.

A crucial component of India’s surge to the top of the rankings have been R Ashwin’s performances. In the subcontinent, he was unplayable and picked up bags of wickets. However, on his African adventure, he wasn’t as productive. Though he picked up 7 wickets in 2 matches, he couldn’t get the breakthroughs when needed. But with the English batsmen looking circumspect against spin, India should explore the option of playing Ashwin. With Bhuvaneshwar Kumar absent, he would also add a bit of batting depth to India’s long tail.

If Ashwin is to find a place in the eleven, one of Pandya or Mohammed Shami has to miss out. Since his injury, Shami hasn’t been the same bowler. Even in the IPL, he looked listless and he didn’t show any promising signs in the warm-up game. He was very erratic and conceded runs on both sides of the wicket. Pandya, meanwhile has been impressive on this tour and came up with crucial breakthroughs throughout the ODI and T20 series. In addition to this, Pandya is a game-changer at No.7 in the batting order.

For India to succeed, they need to play the 5 bowlers who look most likely to take 20 wickets. At the moment, a combination of two pacers and two spinners, with Pandya as the fifth bowler seems the best option.