11 December,2024 07:35 AM IST | Adelaide | R Kaushik
KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Having taken one day to process their 10-wicket loss in the second Test, India were back at the Adelaide Oval nets first thing on Tuesday morning with the express intention of ironing out batting woes ahead of the third Test, starting at the Gabba on Saturday.
It hasn't been a great last couple of months for India's batters, especially in the first innings of Test matches. Starting from Bengaluru against New Zealand in mid-October, when they were shot out for an embarrassing 46 in decidedly pace-friendly conditions, they have topped 200 just once in five first-innings outings, and even 263 in the last of three Tests against the Kiwis in Mumbai wasn't enough to stave off defeat.
Also Read: Pujara feels Washington Sundar can replace this Team India great
Twice in these five Tests, they have managed more than 400 in the second dig, but so much ground had been lost at the Chinnaswamy Stadium after the first innings that 462 batting a second time around could only reduce the margin of defeat to eight wickets. Ahead of Brisbane, the talk in batting meetings must revolve around competitive first-innings totals because for all the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah and the heart of Mohammed Siraj, there is only so much the bowlers can do game after game.
India have played seven Tests since the start of their international home season in September against Bangladesh and have managed just a solitary century in the first innings of a Test. Even that came after the top order had been wrecked in Chennai by Hasan Mahmud. Tottering at 144 for six, they were bailed out by all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who put on 199. Ashwin's sublime 113 at No. 8 remains India's only three-figure knock of this season. It's hardly a surprise therefore that they have lost four of their last five Tests.
What methods India adopt to correct this glaring anomaly remains to be seen. At nets on Tuesday, the projected top six - skipper Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant - all had long sessions. Quantitatively, India haven't been found wanting, but their batting quality hasn't surfaced on this tour except in the second innings in Perth, when they rode on a double-hundred opening stand between Jaiswal (161) and Rahul to build on their 46-run first-outing lead and bat the hosts out of the contest.
Jaiswal is yet to register a first-innings run in this series, twice dismissed without scoring by Mitchell Starc. In the last year-and-a-half, the left-hander has been instrumental in decent totals batting a first time, primarily at home. He is too good a player to keep missing out on the opening day of a Test, even when the pitch and the Aussie quicks are at their freshest. But more than him, India will need runs from their captain and his predecessor, the two most experienced and accomplished batters in this line-up.
There have been suggestions after the Adelaide loss that Rohit should return to the top of the order again. That could be construed as a knee-jerk reaction. India stuck with Jaiswal and Rahul for a reason in the second Test. The question the think-tank will be asking is if splitting them after just one further Test together is prudent.
