On why caution must be exercised going into the second Test

The first Test of one of the most anticipated Test series is done and dusted. Dusted, both metaphorically and literally. A dusty and scruffy pitch at Chepauk made life fun for the Indian spinners in general and Ravichandran Ashwin in particular. The game got over in just about 4 days and a bit. India lead the series by a game to nil going into Hyderabad and there is a sense of positivity all around. But should there be?

Well, to begin, no one can take anything away from the stellar performances of Dhoni, Kohli and Ashwin. The first two were instrumental in reaching the score of nearly 600 runs and the latter was single handedly responsible for 13 of the 20 wickets to fall. On one hand, it is fantastic, these performances that is. However, on closer inspection, one can see something that was not altogether forthcoming. Dhoni had been in good form and was fresh off a superb innings against England the last time out; ditto with Kohli. He seems to have found that extra degree of maturity that is most essential in the longest format of the game. Thus, the performances of this pair do not come as that much of a surprise.

Ashwin had a mixed bag when England were here last. So, his wicket taking is a welcome sign. He seems to be giving it more air and bowling slower which seems to be reaping rewards. Pujara’s performance, albeit brief, inspired some degree of confidence indeed. Another most welcome sign for India was the magnificence of Tendulkar’s innings. His 80 was of the highest order and while the stroke that he got out to was one that he would not like to recall any time soon, the remainder of his innings was a joy to behold and, most importantly, his utter dominance of the Aussie bowlers is a tremendous sign for the rest of the series.

However, with all this on one side, there were some critical issues that India faced going into this Test and many of these questions remain unanswered in spite of the comprehensive win.

The first, or should I say, the opening question is the question of opening. It is quite well known that when Sehwag gets off to a start, India dominate. However, he has not really fired in quite a while now and one would wonder how many more chances he has. Given, he did play cautiously and all that, perhaps he was even unlucky to get out, but then again, the records show that he did not even score 20 runs and numbers don’t really lie.

The other opening question is one that is perhaps even more of a poser; the question of who the other opener will be. Now that Gambhir is most certainly not there, it is down to Vijay and Dhawan. While Vijay could do almost nothing about the ball in the first innings (well, one can argue that one can always do better but a 150kph Pattinson ball is quite something), his dismissal in the second innings was poor to say the least. Will he be given another go or will Shikhar get his break? Rahane, perhaps?

What will also be quite vexing will be the composition of the bowling line-up in Hyderabad. Quite clearly, the faster bowlers had pretty much nothing to do in Chennai but then again, Hyderabad is not Chennai, is it? Will India still play with two seamers? If they do, will it be the pair of Ishant and Kumar? If not anything else, Bhuvneshwar merits a place ahead of anyone else for his sheer doggedness with the bat. He was quite excellent. Then again, he is a bowler first and must be judged on his bowling above anything else. Both he and Ishant had nothing to do in the second innings but they could’ve done better in the first.

Of the spinners, 7 wickets were shared between Harbhajan and Jadeja but neither of them looked all too convincing, did they? The question quite surely that will be playing on the selectors’ minds would be if Pragyan Ojha is to be brought back for his home Test. Then again, Harbhajan is just back into the scheme of things and one might argue that he wasn’t all that poor; or perhaps he was.

Jadeja is a more vexing problem. His bowling was adequate and his batting poor. Does India really need him at 7 in place of a regular bowler? Could that spot, batting-wise, be filled up by a combination of Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar with room for another bowler? Could, perhaps, Rahane be looked at with 3 spinners and a single seamer?

The win, as good as it was, still masks quite a few cracks that persist in the team. By no means is the balance perfect; one Test does not make a summer. The cracks are merely covered by sandpaper. A sterner test will reveal the cracks beneath it. Hence, celebrate the win at Chepauk. However, tread with caution. There could be a storm coming. After all, one need not look too far in the past for a precedent. The England series will suffice.