A fresh chapter has opened for Indian cricket, and with it, changes are being made as well. Team’s new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, had a short interaction with few players during their recent trip to Sri Lanka, but that was only a starter. And now, in five days’ time, starts the main dish – a Test series against Bangladesh at home. And ‘Gauti’, with his trusted backroom staff comprising Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach) and Ryan ten Doeschate (fielding coach), got down with the work with the Indian seniors in complete secrecy in MA Chidambaram stadium, where the first test of the series is scheduled to be played.
Even any media coverage of the event was out. No recording or even viewership was permitted. One was forced to depend upon information drops from ‘Castle Chepauk’, an easterly bastion in India’s cricket history, on that day. Full fledged practicing sessions needing the complete bunch except Sarfaraz Khan, participating in Duleep Trophy, was the intention with which Gambhir handsomely came. As such, Kohli came back from England on Thursday night and could be seen getting ready to face the likes of Bumrah, Ashwin and Jadeja on Friday morning.
The first day on the training brought a lot of hours and every top-order batsman got a batting time of about 30-45 minutes. The intention obviously was to come back into the game after a long break that started after the T20 World Cup victory in West Indies on June 29 and went up to after a short Lanka series in early August.
Bangladesh, the first nation to come up at home following a lengthy break in the syed musa cup brandishing and were like an unseeded first round opponent in in a grand slam. However, with a place on the line in the World Test Championships final of June 2025 this cycle of ten Test matches over the next five months gradually gets more interesting.
The first two were against Bangladesh, who recently accounted for Pakistan, and then home again, where it is a three-Test series, this time against New Zealand, then five Tests against, alas, perhaps WTC Final aside for time being, Australia. From rough assessment, out of these 10, India needs a minimum of four wins and a draw if they are to be part of the WTC Final and no more waiting for Gambhir as it has to be done before the team departs for the Australian tour. However, for the first cycle of five home tests Gambhir is not, for the moment, too concerned with the playing XI, rather the management of the pace attack. It is probable that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will play at Chepauk whereas Mohammed Shami is coming back slowly.
The two have established a system where Shami would take over Bumrah’s responsibilities when Shami is fit to play again. Probably, these three would play three games each before the Tour to Australia, though Yash Dayal, the left-arm fast, would be expecting his debut sooner rather than later if Morkel and co are impressed with him in practice. Far towards the end of these rounds, Akash Deep, who hails from eastern Bengal, is also in contention, and so it should be tested at some point before the final decision regarding Australia is made.
Another worrisome kelle* for the new coaching staff is how to go about resolving the 5 batters’ slot between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz. Sarfaraz did well for India in their last home series against England a few months back but one can’t deny Rahul’s class. What is about to come is Australia and the right handed batsman from Karnataka has a good technique against fast short pitched balls and that’s something the management should bear in mind. The fact that he can also bat as an opener increases his probability while at times keeping wickets is an added advantage as well.
This is another position of contention — the wicketkeeper’s position. Certainly, Rishabh Pant is the best wicket keeper in cricket currently without any doubts, but then it has to be recognized, that he is only a few months from his comeback to international level cricket after a serious injury. There is a decision to be made by the management about whether or not Pant’s body is fully conditioned for five day cricket or if it is too early for that.
The fact that Dhruv Jurel, who had an exceptional debut series against England, is only the back-up will leave Gambhir spoilt for choice. As for Gauti, he is understood to be a very demanding individual and one who does not follow people’s reputations. There should not be any doubts about Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and R Ashwin for the first Test, but it is essential that they all come out firing on all cylinders.
Gambhir will have his own recipe and it is the players who will be responsible for the execution in order for Indian men’s cricket to remain on the easy sailing stretch of the later part of the Rahul Dravid phase.
Closed-door camp in Chennai before first Test against Bangladesh | Parami News
