India vs Australia, 4th Test: Who should replace Rohit Sharma at Sydney?

As the Indian team celebrate their memorable win at Melbourne, there is more cause for celebration for Rohit Sharma as he and his wife have been blessed with a baby girl. Rohit is set to miss the fourth Test at Sydney as he is flying back to India. Rohit made his presence felt at Melbourne with scores of 63 and 5.

As wishes pour in for the Sharma couple, it is now time to identify the replacement for Rohit Sharma for the fourth Test at Sydney.

Options available in the squad

Batsmen

Murali Vijay, K.L. Rahul and Parthiv Patel

All-rounder

Hardik Pandya

Fast Bowlers

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav

Spinners

Ravichandran Ashwin & Kuldeep Yadav.

Batsmen

The logical replacement for Rohit Sharma in the team would be another specialist batsman. However, it is strange to note that in a squad of 19, no other reserve middle-order batsman is available. Hence the next best option is to open with either Murali Vijay or K.L. Rahul and revert Hanuma Vihari back to the middle-order. As both Vijay and Rahul are woefully out-of-form, the team management might not take that route.

The woeful form of both Vijay and Rahul will keep them out of the playing XI

The other option is to bring in the second wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel as the specialist opening batsman and push back Vihari to the middle-order. Patel has opened earlier for India in Test matches and has been reasonably successful. However, he cannot replace Rishabh Pant after Pant’s record-breaking dismissals in the series. Playing Parthiv Patel as a specialist opener carries the same risk as bringing back Vijay or Rahul.

In the absence of another reserve middle-order batsman in the squad, India would like to go in with Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari as openers at Sydney and fill in the void at the middle-order with an all-rounder or a bowler who could bat a bit.

The Hardik Pandya option

Hardik Pandya was not selected for the Melbourne Test due to lack of match practice. Since then nothing has changed within a week. Hence, if the same reasoning is applied, Hardik Pandya might be left to warm the bench at Sydney.

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The fast bowling option

The chances of either Umesh or Bhuvi making into the team is as slim as Vijay and Rahul

Since the Sydney wicket is expected to be a slow wicket, there is no necessity for India to go in with a fourth seamer either in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Umesh Yadav. Umesh Yadav flatter to deceive at Perth and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played a single Test match since January’18. Besides, that option would further lengthen the Indian tail. Hence this option is ruled out for Team India.

The Spinners

Ashwin, if declared fit, is the best option to replace Rohit Sharma at Sydney

The Indians have two spinners in the squad in Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav who would be ideal bowlers for the Sydney wicket. Out of two, Ashwin, if declared fit, would be the best choice to replace Rohit Sharma. Ashwin took 6 wickets in the Adelaide Test against the Australian batting line-up packed with left-handers.

Besides, Ashiwn is a more than useful late-order batsman. Hence the best choice would be to bring back Ravichandran Ashwin into the team to fill in the void created by Rohit Sharma’s absence. If Ashwin is not fit, then the next better choice would be the mystery wrist-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav.

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Consequences of Rohit Sharma’s absence

Kohli will miss Rohit for many reasons

Sitting on the lead approach

After their win at Melbourne, India take a 2-1 lead with one match to go. This has never happened in India’s previous 12 tours of Australia. Now, Australia are under pressure to save the series at Sydney and deny India of their first series win in Australia.

Kohli would ideally love to sit on the precious lead by strengthening his batting. Compared to other venues in Australia, in Sydney, at times, the weather might be a bit dodgy. In the circumstances, Kohli might be tempted to pack the team with batsmen and play out for a draw. Now, the absence of Rohit Sharma has thrown that option out of the window.

5 bowlers one too many

Though Ashwin is the best replacement for Rohit Sharma in the present circumstances, the presence of five regular bowlers might force Kohli to under-bowl one of the bowlers besides weakening the batting.

Insurance against losing the toss

The additional batsman is insurance against losing the toss and batting second. In such a scenario, the extra batsman in the middle-order could come in handy, if not to win, at least to play for a draw.

To sum up, the absence of Rohit Sharma would certainly upset the team composition for the New Year Test at Sydney.

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