5 selection blunders that cost India in Test cricket in 2018

2018 has been an eventful year for the Indian cricket team. They’ve been on the road for the most part of the year with tours to South Africa, England and now Australia. While India have done very well in white-ball cricket, they have struggled for consistency in the longest format of the game.

The Virat Kohli-led side lost both the earlier Test series. They lost 1-2 in South Africa before losing 1-4 in England. Though they played some excellent cricket and competed really well in both those tours, they were on the wrong side of the result as they failed to seize the key moments during the games.

Another major reason for their failure has been the team selection. This is something that has been a big talking point and every time Virat Kohli announces the team at the toss, there’s always a big debate surrounding the XI.

It’s easy to assess in hindsight but to be fair, India have made some selection blunders in 2018. They’ve failed to read and assess the conditions well and eventually, these blunders have cost them Test matches and important ones too. Thus, here’s a look at some of the selection blunders that cost Virat Kohli and company.

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#5 Dropping Ajinkya Rahane from the first two Tests in South Africa

Ajinkya Rahane's absence hurt India in the first two Tests in South Africa.

Ajinkya Rahane has been a vital cog of the Test team. He was India’s go-to batsman during the previous overseas leg (from late 2013 to 2015). However, a poor run of form against Sri Lanka at home and Rohit Sharma’s impressive white-ball form and his success against Sri Lanka at home meant the Indian Test vice-captain was dropped from the XI.

With India playing five bowlers, it was Rohit Sharma who batted at No. 6 in the first two Test matches in South Africa. However, he failed as well, scoring just 78 runs in 4 innings. Rahane returned to the side at the expense of Rohit in the third and final Test match in Johannesburg. He struck a gritty 48 in the second innings on a difficult pitch to help extend India’s lead in the second innings. He showed why it wasn’t the right call to leave him out of the first couple of Test matches.

Thus, it was a big mistake to leave one of India’s Test specialists out of the playing XI at the start of a difficult tour.

#4 Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara in the first Test in England

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara is one of India’s premier Test players. He has played four seasons of County cricket and even this year, before the England tour when most of the other Indians were involved in the IPL, he was busy playing County cricket for Yorkshire.

However, he was dropped from the XI in the first Test at Edgbaston. He hadn’t scored a lot of runs in County cricket and wasn’t in the best of forms but his experience of playing multiple seasons in England would’ve been very handy. India opted to play all three openers – Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul who batted at No. 3.

All three batsmen failed in both innings and India failed to chase down 194 in the fourth innings with only Virat Kohli doing the bulk of the scoring (in both innings). It’s not that Pujara’s presence would’ve changed the result but his calming influence does help in a tricky run-chase.

#3 Playing Kuldeep on a seamer-friendly Lord’s pitch

Kuldeep Yadav bowled just 9 overs in the Test match at Lord's.

Ahead of the Test series in England, there was a lot of talk about Kuldeep Yadav. He had rattled the hosts in both the ODIs and the T20Is (picking up a fifer in both formats – 13 wickets in 5 games). Hence, after England struggled in the first Test against Ravichandran Ashwin, India decided to throw Kuldeep Yadav into the mix.

However, this came at the expense of a pacer (Umesh Yadav) and India had only two frontline fast bowlers (Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami) along with Hardik Pandya. With the ball moving around under overcast conditions and a greenish pitch, Kuldeep Yadav struggled big time and only got to bowl 9 overs in the entire Test match. He also registered a pair with the bat.

As England’s fast bowlers made hay, India dearly missed another seamer to back up the efforts of Ishant, Shami and Pandya who gave India a good start (England were 131/5). In fact, England's spinner Adil Rashid didn't bowl a single delivery in that Test match which shows that it was indeed a big mistake to pick Kuldeep at Lord's.

#2 Picking a half-fit Ravichandran Ashwin in Southampton (fourth Test in England)

Ashwin picked up only 3 wickets as he aggravated his groin injury.

Ravichandran Ashwin had an excellent start in England. He picked up seven wickets in the first Test at Edgbaston and bowled beautifully. He didn’t have any impact in the second Test as India lost by an innings. In the third Test, he bowled just one over and suffered a groin injury. However, he did come back to bowl close to 23 overs in the second innings and took the final wicket as India clinched the Test match at Trent Bridge.

Despite not recovering fully, Ashwin played the Southampton Test. While he fared decently in the first innings, it was his second innings performance that hurt India the most. Moeen Ali exploited the rough beautifully in the first innings and more of the same was expected from India’s premier off-spinner. But he aggravated his groin injury and wasn’t consistent. He returned with figures of 1/84 in 37.1 overs as England made 271 in their second innings.

India eventually went on to lose the Test match and the series and serious question marks were raised surrounding Ashwin’s selection.

#1 Not picking a spinner in the Perth Test

Vihari was India's part-time spinner and did a lot of bowling in both innings.

For the first time in the history of the India-Australia rivalry, India won the first Test of a series in Australia. They beat the hosts by 31 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. However, ahead of the second Test, Ravichandran Ashwin who starred in the first game was ruled out with some abdominal pain and groin injury concerns.

On a spicy looking pitch at the new Optus Stadium in Perth, India opted to play four seamers. Right from the time, Virat Kohli announced the team at the toss, there were big question marks as Ravindra Jadeja who would’ve been an able replacement for Ashwin was ignored.

However, as the game went along, India were once again proved wrong as Nathan Lyon went on to pick eight wickets in the match, including a fifer in the first innings.

Virat Kohli and company paid a heavy price for not picking a spinner as India lost the game by a big margin (146 runs). India’s fourth pacer Umesh Yadav looked lacklustre and way off target. Not only Jadeja but also Bhuvneshwar Kumar would've been a better choice in those conditions. The inclusion of one of these two would've also strengthened the lower-order a little bit. Hence, the team once again misread the conditions.