Opinion: Three Changes India Need To Make For The Bengaluru Test!

Feb 26, 2017 at 7:03 PM

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Opinion: Three Changes India Need To Make For The Bengaluru Test!

What happened in the first Test at the MCA Stadium, Pune, was a rude shock for Virat Kohli and his men. The Australians were expected to be in complete disarray and the Indians were expected to continue with their merry unbeaten streak. But, scenes which unfolded at Pune were quite contrary to the pre-series anticipation. Moving on from the humiliation, India would now look forward to getting themselves fired up for the second Test, but not before ironing out the flaws which were significant reasons behind India’s loss.

No Jayant Yadav:

This may sound as if the entire blame of the defeat is being put on the rookie Haryana off-spinner but surely he didn’t seem like he had any plans. It was as if he has been told to play supporting cast to the top-ranked duo of R. Ashwin and R. Jadeja, but he literally looked over – reliant on their success to draw inspiration for his showing.

He seemed clueless to some extent. Maybe he should realise that he isn’t just an extra fiddle in the bowling attack but an actual important part of the bowling attack.

While Kohli might not be interested in shaking up the bowling attack, the chinaman Kuldeep Yadav looks like a great option. He turns the ball both ways and bowls like an aggressor. Kuldeep’s inclusion would certainly make the Aussies re-think their plans.

No Abhinav Mukund as a substitute fielder:

Changes in the starting XI isn’t expected as the 1st Test was a collective failure. But, yes, India can certainly do a favour to itself by not making Abhinav Mukund the substitute fielder.

We have much better fieldsman in the squad who can be the 12th man. It was frustrating to see him make a meal of catching. Even if not for Steve O’ Keefe, India’s inferior fielding would have still put India in a tricky position.

Out of the five catches which India spoofed during Steve Smith’s century, two slipped off from Mukund. We still have fans debating the chances India would have had if Smith would have failed.

Trust the fast bowlers:

Virat Kohli appeared like a bully who felt that he could threaten the Australians with spin on a rank turner. Giving hard new ball in the hands of spinner won’t work all the time as you’re are supposed to trust the fast bowlers to do their job with the shiny cherry.

The opening duo cautiously played out the entre first session of the opening day without bothering much. The ploy failed in the first attempt but Kohli refused to learn. After having almost gotten rid of the entire batting line-up within a matter of few hours, Kohli took the new ball again and handed it over to Jayant Yadav.

Starc was not batting to survive. He wished to get as many runs a possible and did so. Ashwin was removed, Jayant Yadav brought in along with Umesh Yadav. The latter was removed after being given just one over with Jadeja replacing him who gave away 15 runs in his comeback over. By the time Ashwin was brought back, Starc was already close to his fifty.

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