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MELBOURNE: What must India do to take 20 wickets at the MCG? As skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were having a long discussion at the team’s training session on Tuesday, Prasidh Krishna was seen wheeling away in the pace sets, as he has all through the series, bowling sharp and often troubling the frontline batters.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has contributed important cameos lower down the order but been unimpressive as a fourth medium-pacer, went through a long batting stint.
India have some serious thinking to do about their combination ahead of the pivotal fourth Test. With the pitch here expected to assist the faster bowlers, should India play an additional pacer at the expense of the batting allrounder Reddy? Prasidh, remember, had a good game against Australia A at the same venue in early November, taking 4/50 in the first innings and 2/37 in the second.
Or, with Ravindra Jadeja seemingly a certainty after his heroics with the bat in Brisbane, should Washington Sundar come in as second spinner in a holding role to provide relief to pace regulars Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep?
With some of their batting stalwarts in fading form and the new Kookaburra ball tending to dominate the bat in these conditions, taking a call on depleting the batting further – especially with Reddy in some form – could be a tricky call for the think-tank.
Reddy’s strike rate of 72.17 is the highest among Indian batters with 100-plus runs in this series. His seven sixes are the most on either side. He’s taken the attack to the opposition even with his team in trouble, but bowled just 7 overs each in Perth and Adelaide across both innings and 13 overs in Brisbane.
India are known to be cryptic about their lineup ahead of a game and Rohit spoke in riddles when asked about the combination. “I had a look at the pitch and it has quite a bit of grass covering,” he said. “We’re certainly considering the weather factor as well (a heat wave is predicted on Boxing Day). Whatever we have to do to make the best possible XI, we’ll do that, whether it is playing an extra spinner or not. We’ll see how much grass remains on the wicket, how much spinners will be used. This doesn’t look like a dry wicket to me.”
Should India go in unchanged instead? One pointer could be the recent past, and what the team has done in pace-friendly conditions in South Africa, England and Australia in recent times.
India’s win in the first Test of this series in Perth came when both Reddy and Sundar were played, but then a slot had opened up in Rohit’s absence. The win against South Africa in Cape Town at the beginning of the year saw four frontline pacers in action in Bumrah, Siraj, Krishna and Mukesh Kumar, but that wasn’t a tough call as conditions were conducive to extreme pace.
Here, at the MCG, there could be long, attritional phases of the game when the seamers might tire out.
India don’t have an allrounder like Shardul Thakur, who was part of the bowling lineup in two memorable overseas wins in 2021, against South Africa in Centurion and England at the Oval, where he played a pivotal role with both bat and ball. The other big Test win that year, at Lord’s, saw four frontline seamers in Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Siraj, apart from the lone spinner in Jadeja.
India played both Jadeja and Ashwin in their last Test win at the MCG in 2020, turning the series around with an 8-wicket win after the 36-all-out debacle in the previous Test in Adelaide. That Jadeja and Ashwin could both bat were big plusses.
Rohit was more forthright while addressing the unhealthy reliance on Bumrah, who has seemed in otherworldly form even as others like Siraj have not stepped up enough.
“It’s a challenge to handle not just the bowling but the entire team,” he said. “Nobody comes here not to perform. But when somebody is in form, we have to make the most of that. Bumrah is certainly making the most of it. Siraj and the others who are bowling around him know they need to step up. They’re trying hard but have been a bit unlucky. Siraj has shown great attitude.”
As for Bumrah, India’s Atlas in this series, Rohit appeared as much in awe as the rest of the cricketing world. “With him in this form, all that the other bowlers have to do is just maintain the pressure. He has crystal-clear ideas and keeps it simple. It makes it very easy for me as captain. It’s nice to see that a lot of the opposition players talk about him. The impact he’s had on the series is massive. Hopefully he’ll continue to do that because these two games are very important for us.”
It’s in the cauldron of the MCG that the series may eventually be decided. One wrong move here and the campaign could stutter. Whether India go in unchanged, opt for another spinner or an extra pacer, it’s Bumrah who will still work the magic. The think-tank merely has to make it easy for him with their choice of support cast.
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