Who should open for India in England?
They say, "Well begun is a job half done." That may not be literally true for a sport that lasts close to thirty hours spread over the course of five days, but a good start definitely goes a long way in establishing dominance in a Test match. Only 28 times has a team gone on to lose a Test Match after their openers have put together a century partnership in the first innings while batting first. 28 times out of 234 such occasions. The last time it happened was back in 2013 when Australia went down to India at Mohali.
The Indian team comes to England on the back of a game of musical chairs among their openers. The last time the same pair opened for India in more than three tests was back in 2016. Since then, India has played 25 Test matches and tried a total of 8 combinations at the top. Thus, a big question mark hangs over who would walk out to open for India in the first Test at Birmingham with three possible combinations at their disposal.
That Mohali Test is best remembered for the debut of, Shikhar Dhawan, who announced himself on the big stage with a swashbuckling 85-ball-hundred- the fastest ever by a debutant. He went on to hammer a stroke-filled 187- the highest Test score for India by a debutant to date.
Five years later, that dominance, and that swagger are all there. However, It seems Dhawan forgets to bring them with him everytime he leaves the comfort of Asia. His last five Test innings in Asia read 107, 67, 23, 94, 8. His last five outside Asia read 16, 16, 26, 1, 27. In 16 Test matches in Asia, he averages 61. In 14 abroad, the statistic tumbles down 28. On average, he lasts only 50 balls, before falling to a pacer- having done so on 19 of the 26 occasions. It has been more than six years since he last scored a Test century outside Asia.
While Dhawan was decimating Australia in Mohali, another man was going about his business in his own quiet way. Dhawan's partner at the top, Murali Vijay, made a big hundred- a 153 that took close to seven hours, as compared to Dhawan's 187 that took a tad more than four hours. The last time India toured England, Vijay had a decent time out in the middle, scoring 402 runs- the most by an Indian in the five-match series. What stood out was that he faced 105 balls per innings on average. Dhoni faced 71, Rahane 65, Pujara 51, Dhawan 35, and Kohli 29.
Vijay's form though has been questionable of late. Before getting that century against Afghanistan at Bengaluru last month, he had a total of 111 runs across his previous seven Test innings without a single half-century. His half-century against Essex should boost his, as well as the team management's, morale. Vijay has faced an average of 76 balls per innings outside Asia- the 4th best for an Indian opener in this century. Only Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, and India's third opener on this tour, KL Rahul, do better.
KL Rahul has had a stop-start Test career so far. Being the reserve opener, he would often get in a game or two with injuries to the regular ones, but, soon found himself on the bench on their return. Not one to be left behind, he soon had an injury of his own. A career that began in a black-and-white manner- he would either fall early or get a century and nothing in between, has settled down with a lot more gray, and a lot more consistency- never more so than the seven back to back innings of 50 or more, but none more than 100, in 2017- a world record.
He has been in some form these past few months. Whether he can continue in the same vein from the shortest format to the longest format, especially in England, will be a question. There is nothing much to write home about his performances against the red ball overseas yet. In eight attempts outside of Asia and the West Indies to date, he has scored more than 16 only once- his maiden Test Century in Sydney, in the first week of 2015.
When the Indian team toured England in 2011, they used as many as 4 different opening combinations. In 2014, they used two, starting with Dhawan and Vijay, and then bringing in Gambhir to partner Vijay in the last two Tests. This time around they would definitely hope that one pair can pull them through all five Tests and hence, it is of utmost importance that they get the pairing right in the first Test.
So, who then will the Indian think tank go with at the top of the order when the teams line up for the opening Test at Birmingham tomorrow? Vijay, despite his poor returns off late, should be a certainty, given the success he has enjoyed in England the last time around. His off-stump awareness and ability to leave balls outside off stands him in good stead against a new ball that is likely to swing. Also, by taking his time at the top, he ensures that the Royalty of the Indian batting that follows him- Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane, is not exposed to the new ball and can walk in to bat in conditions favourable to stroke play and run-pillaging.
And who then partners Vijay? Having Shikhar Dhawan at the top with Vijay means India has a left-right combination to start with. It also means that Dhawan makes up for Vijay's slow starts by getting off to fliers himself, unsettling the English attack. There is no other left-hander in the middle order either, and hence, should Dhawan survive long enough to build other meaningful partnerships, the side would have a left-right combination at play for a decent amount of time, not allowing the English bowlers to settle into a rhythm. However, that is a big "if". Shikhar Dhawan has time and again been found susceptible against the moving ball. On the 2014 Tour, his six innings at the top lasted 52 minutes on average, falling within the first hour on four occasions, and almost immediately after an hour once. That doesn't quite bode well for India, especially with a number three in Cheteshwar Pujara also struggling.
And that is where Rahul's case grows stronger. Though he doesn't have much to show in a similar situation- this will be his first red-ball international series in England, and if his form and panache are anything to go by, he has the ingredients to succeed. The warm-up game against Essex once again exposed Shikhar Dhawan's frailty, failing to open his account in either of the two innings, while KL Rahul was among the five Indian batsmen who scored half-centuries. Pundits like Harsha Bhogle and Sourav Ganguly have already weighed in behind the Rahul-Vijay pair opening the batting, and the Indian team management has a massive decision to make. It'll be interesting to see if they go in with a more traditional approach with Vijay and Dhawan at the top, or are open to taking tough calls based on form and condition and putting Rahul at the top with Vijay.