Devdutt Padikkal has been called as a cover and is in line to play in the first rubber.
There’s a sense of familiarity already with less than a week remaining in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The captain is unavailable, key players are injured, and fresh faces are being fast-tracked on a big Australia tour. Sounds like a familiar script, right?
The only difference, and also the worst thing, is that India are facing all this even before the start of the series this time.
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As if Rohit Sharma’s absence wasn’t enough, India have already faced numerous scars, with one turning into an unwanted reality. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli injured themselves during the match simulation but, fortunately, recovered in time.
However, Shubman Gill broke his thumb during the match simulation and has been ruled out of the Perth Test. He was just finding his groove at No.3 and had started showing encouraging signs at a fairly difficult number. That has prompted the management to look for alternatives days before the start of the game.
Devdutt Padikkal has been called as a cover and is in line to play in the first Test in Perth. He was with India A for two unofficial Tests against Australia A, and while other team members have left, he will stay back. India had the option of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who captained India A, and Sai Sudharsan, who batted at No.3 in the series.
Why not Ruturaj Gaikwad?
Firstly, Gaikwad’s exclusion is valid for multiple reasons. He was among the worst-performing batters on the A tour and didn’t impress much in the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, where bowling attacks were superior in quality.
Further, he is naturally an opener and couldn’t have made any significant impact at No.3 or anywhere in the middle order, where the vacancy is open.
It’s worth noting that Gaikwad has struggled significantly against the moving ball almost everywhere in this format.
So, while there’s a spot at the top in place of Rohit, the team would want to draft someone like KL Rahul, technically superior, or Abhimanyu Easwaran, among the most prolific run-scorer in the domestic circuit.
Sometimes, raw numbers can be flattering, but they don’t paint the original picture. If the team management has to choose one of these three for the opening slot, the order will be: Rahul, Easwaran, and Gaikwad. Despite mediocre performances and underwhelming numbers, Rahul is more capable of scoring runs than the other two against a quality Australian bowling attack.
So, Gaikwad is nowhere in the scene, even if he led India A. Maybe his previous captaincy experience went in his favour on this tour. That doesn’t make him a better batter than many in the India A squad.
Devdutt Padikkal over Sai Sudharsan
The call was ultimately between Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal, and the team surprisingly selected the latter.
Sudharsan is technically solid and has previous experience playing at No.3. In fact, he also compiled a terrific century batting one down in the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Mackay.
Padikkal too contributed in the same innings with a solid 88, in partnership with Sudharsan. Earlier in the first innings, Padikkal made a fighting 36, the highest in the innings, when wickets were falling around him, showing his ability to navigate threats in arduous conditions. While that was impressive, what probably tipped the scales in Padikkal’s favour was his flexibility.
Sudharsan is mostly a top-order batter who has hardly batted outside the top three, but Padikkal has done it in several matches, including the recent India A tour, where he batted at No.4 and 5.
So, he provides India with an option to promote Virat Kohli to No.3 and Rishabh Pant to No.4, with him batting at No.5 or even No.6.
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Dhruv Jurel, set to play in the first game, is technically and temperamentally solid enough to bat anywhere.
They can simply promote Jurel to No.3 if the team doesn’t want to shuffle the batting positions of key batters like Kohli and Pant, and Padikkal will take No.6. And Padikkal mainly bats at No.3 for Karnataka, so he has a fair bit of experience at the vacant position as well.
The reports suggest Padikkal impressed the coaches in the match simulation just before the first Test. He handled a fiery Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled in full steam, well and looked comfortable against other bowlers on Saturday (November 16). So, if he is handling Bumrah well, Padikkal is definitely in good nick, as was the case against Australia A.
Another thing going in his favour is his previous Test match experience, as Padikkal already made his Test debut against England earlier this year. He batted at No.4 and scored 65 runs in his maiden Test innings.
On such a big tour, teams often prefer some experience, and while he played only one game, the southpaw was with the Test squad for as many as three matches against England, where he would have gained valuable experience.
Earlier, he was with senior players on the South Africa tour and trained alongside them before the intra-squad fixture.
There’s no doubt that Padikkal has impressed the chief selector Ajit Agarkar with his expertise in red-ball cricket. This was also the reason behind fast-tracking him to the Indian team in key players’ absence against England at home, and the trend has continued.
All this is not to justify Sudharsan’s exclusion. Maybe he could have done better than Padikkal as well. This is just an attempt to make sense of the call made by the team management.
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