England v India 2014: A look at what could suit India the best at Trent Bridge

Alastair Cook (L) and MS Dhoni

The wait is finally over for all Indian cricket fans! It doesn’t often happen that a Test series is looked up to so badly, but India’s tour of England has undoubtedly been the one of the most awaited bilateral series of the year. The fact that there are 5 Test matches – which doesn’t happen in any bilateral series these days apart from the Ashes – confirms the relevance of this series.

The last time India were in England, in 2011, they were whitewashed 0-4; it was followed by a home series loss - 1-2 in late 2012 – to make things even worse. However, only 3 players – MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma – have carried on from the last tour, with legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retiring during these 3 years and veteran players like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh not being considered due to either form or fitness issues.

So, let’s have a look at what is the best XI India could play out of the 18 players they have for the first Test, at Nottingham.

Opening combination:

India have picked 3 openers : Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay

After having lost his place in the Indian Test side post 2012, Gambhir has now been called back. Considering his experience and a Test average of 44, it would be unfair to bench him. He has done enough for India in the past, and his current touch looks good, as well. So, he should make a direct entry.

Shikhar Dhawan, whose Test average stands at 48.54, made a stunning entry into Test cricket with a superb knock of 187 against Australia at Mohali in early 2013. He isn’t the most consistent but fits somewhat in the Virender Sehwag league: may not fire always but, if he does, can singlehandedly give India the upper edge. Hence, he should make the cut, too.

It leaves us with Murali Vijay – who hasn’t quite proven that he is talented enough – averaging a modest 35.24 warming the bench. However, if one of these 2 left-handers fail in the first 2 games, Vijay could make an entry later in the series.

Middle Order:

The options available: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha

Pujara – with a Test average of 58.92 – and Kohli – with a Test average of 46.51 – have done enough already in the past couple of years to make a direct entry with the duo showing great signs of being the next reliable No. 3 and No. 4 for India, just like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were for more than 15 years.

It would be great if India could feature both Rahane and Rohit, but, practically speaking, the team needs the bowlers to pick 20 wickets, for which they will have to play 5 of them. This implies that only one of the 2 could fit in. Rohit averages a brilliant 56.87 in Tests, and his great ability to bat with the lower order – like VVS Laxman – has been seen in the past.

On the other hand, Rahane averages 47.37 and is undoubtedly a great asset to the Indian side. However, Rohit’s better average and even ability to bowl decent part time spin – considering India is most likely to just play one specialist spinner – works against Rahane.

The No. 6 position is completely reserved for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has a Test average of 38.77 – and Saha will come into play only if the Indian skipper is unavailable.

Lower Order:

Pankaj Singh (L) and Ishant Sharma

All-rounders slot: The available options: Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin

As already discussed, India will have to play 5 bowlers, and Binny has impressed greatly with both bat and ball recently and certainly deserves a chance to play at No. 7.

It is a tough toss-up between Jadeja and Ashwin. Ashwin, averaging 28.50 with the ball, is still seen as a more specialist bowler than Jadeja, who averages 26.30 with the ball. Furthermore, Ashwin hasn’t been at his best on non-spinning tracks, while Jadeja’s wicket-to-wicket bowling has allowed him to make breakthroughs irrespective of how the track plays.

He has also performed better in the practice games as compared to Ashwin with the ball. With the bat, Ashwin has a much better average of 39.40 compared to Jadeja’s 20.77, and there is no denying that Ashwin has better technique and temperament required for batting in the longest format of the game. But, since they are fighting for the spinner-slot, Dhoni will have to decide who has the better chance of taking wickets. My vote goes to the left-armer Jadeja.

Specialist fast bowlers’ slot: The available options: Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Pankaj Singh and Ishwar Pandey.

Ishant is the most experienced of the lot having played 55 Tests in the past 7 years. However, the 25-year-old hasn’t quite shown the ability to lead the pace attack in the past. He is way too inconsistent and unreliable despite having all the ability to fire on bouncy tracks using his height as an advantage.

I wouldn’t personally prefer him in the XI, but Dhoni has often gone with him in the past.

Bhuvneshwar and Shami have done well in the past and just need to be groomed well to make them even better. Bhuvneshwar is undoubtedly one of the best thinking bowlers that we have; the 24-year-old bowls according to the needs of the skipper maintaining a tight line and moving it both ways, while Shami has the advantage of extra pace and the ability to extract bounce.

Only one of the remaining 3 – Aaron, Pankaj and Ishwar – could feature in the playing 11, and, though Aaron is known for his pace, Pankaj and Ishwar have better first-class bowling average: close to 25. Pankaj has been unlucky in the past, having waited for too long, and is much more experienced than the other 2 and should be given a chance for sure. The others could wait for their chances considering it Is a long series.

To sum it up, my best XI for India tomorrow : Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Pankaj Singh