Australia and India both had one box ticked for the opening spot ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Yashasvi Jaiswal fit the bill for India and Usman Khawaja for hosts Australia. Who will occupy the other end remained a mystery.
For Australia, Steve Smith had stepped up to face the new ball ever since David Warner retired. But the returns were not encouraging. He played four Tests as an opener and mustered just 171 runs at an average of 28.50. At No. 4, his most preferred spot in the batting order, the record read: 5966 runs from 67 matches at an average of 61.50 with 19 centuries.
Middle-Order Batter? Opener? Still No Fixed Slot For KL Rahul in India Set-Up
Injury to Cameron Green and the need to go under the knife coupled with Smith dropping to his usual spot resulted in the slot becoming vacant. Who would partner Khawaja when they come out to bat against India was the big question.
Untested 19-year-old Sam Konstas was floated as an option. Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw and Cameron Bancroft were, too. Bancroft and Harris had represented Australia in the role in the past but had failed to hold on. Renshaw, meanwhile, played 10 Tests as an opener in 2016-17 but couldn’t remain a long term choice.
New South Wales’ Konstas caught many former players’ attention as they stressed on giving youth a chance. Konstas, who struck two centuries against South Africa, dropped down the pecking order though due to lack of experience (nine first-class matches) and not the greatest returns vs India A (0, 16, 3 and 73*) during the audition.
Australia batters will find it difficult and have issues of their own
Australia A skipper Nathan McSweeney is going to get the nod. “Welcome to Test cricket,” he was told by teammates as he walked up to practice for the first Test. He brings spin bowling and a safe pair of hands in the slips region to the table as well.
Over in the other camp, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma would have been the obvious choices. Rohit’s decision to stick around in Mumbai to be with his wife Ritika and family just days after becoming a father has left the door open for others.
Shubman Gill was considered to jump a place but he fractured his thumb during match simulation. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been touted for bigger things after shining in domestic cricket, didn’t provide a good account of himself in the twin unofficial Tests against Australia A. That left only KL Rahul in the scheme of things – despite his modest returns of late as well.
The 32-year-old KL Rahul was struck on the elbow during the match practice as well but recovered quickly to rid Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff of any extra headaches.
In the subsequent practice session, Rahul batted without major discomfort and participated in all the drills during the three-hour nets session.
“I had got a bad hit on Day 1 of the game. I am feeling good today, getting ready for the first game. Happy that I could come here early and get used to the conditions,” KL Rahul said in a video shared by BCCI on X.
“Yeah, I got a lot of time to prepare for this series and I am excited and looking forward to it,” he added.
Indian cricket team‘s physio Kamlesh Jain said KL Rahul responded well to treatment.
“The key for us was to ensure that there is no fracture there. It’s 48 hours since the impact and he has responded well to treatments. He should be ready to go,” said Jain.
Yogesh Parmar, the support physio, said the objective was on “controlling the pain”.
“I took him for X-ray and scan and based upon the report I was more confident that he should be fine. It was a matter of controlling the pain and giving him some confidence. From a medical point of view, he is absolutely fine,” said Parmar.
Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri has identified KL Rahul as someone who can do the Cheteshwar Pujara job for India i.e. remaining resolute against the Australian attack. How that pans out, though, remains to be seen.
