No media was allowed. Nothing could be filmed or watched. One had to bank on droplets of information filtering out of ‘Castle Chepauk’ on Friday. Gambhir wanted the entire group together right from the first day, barring Sarfaraz Khan who is playing in the Duleep Trophy. So, Virat Kohli flew in from England late on Thursday night and was among the first to go out on Friday morning and bat against Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Day One of training was a long session and all the top-order batters got about 30-45 minutes of batting. The idea, quite clearly, was to get back into game mode after a long vacation which started after the T20 World Cup win in West Indies on June 29 and carried on following a brief Lanka series in early August.
Bangladesh, first up at home after a long holiday, are a bit like an unseeded opponent in the first round of a Grand Slam. With a place in the World Test Championship Final in June 2025 up for grabs, the challenge gradually gets tougher in this cycle of 10 Tests over the next five months.
After the first two against Bangladesh, who beat Pakistan recently, it’s a three-Test series at home against New Zealand followed by five against potential WTC Final opponent Australia in their own backyard. As per rough calculations, India need four wins and a draw from these 10 games to qualify for the WTC Final and Gambhir wants to finish the job before the group tours Down Under. For the first cycle of five home Tests, Gambhir doesn’t have to worry too much about the playing XI, but instead about the rotation of his pace bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are likely to play at Chepauk while Mohammed Shami is on a comeback trail.
Once Shami is ready, Bumrah could be given a break. In all probability, these three will play three games each before the Australia tour while left-arm pacer Yash Dayal can expect a debut sooner rather than later, if he impresses Morkel and Co. with his swing in practice. Bengal’s Akash Deep, too, is in the mix and he, too, should be tested somewhere down the line before taking a final call for Australia.
Another decision that the new coaching staff has to take is whether to go with KL Rahul or Sarfaraz as the No. 5 batter. While Sarfaraz was a success for India when they played England at home a few months ago, Rahul’s class is undeniable. Moreover, Australia are just round the corner and the Karnataka man’s sound technique against shortpitched stuff should be something that the team management will keep in mind. The fact that Rahul can be used as an opener adds to his chances, while the occasional wicketkeeping is a bonus as well.
There is another area of interest — the wicketkeeper’s slot. Rishabh Pant, by far, is the best in world cricket at the moment but one has to keep in mind that it has only been a few months since his return to top-flight cricket after a life-threatening accident. Whether Pant’s body is completely ready for the wear and tear of five-day cricket is something that the management has to take a call on.
The fact that Dhruv Jurel, who had an extremely impressive debut series against England, is the back-up, will leave Gambhir spoilt for choice. Gauti, though, is known to be a tough taskmaster and he isn’t one who goes by reputation. Even if there’s no question about Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and R Ashwin for the first Test, it’s important that they all hit the ground running.
Gambhir will have his own ideas and it’s up to players to execute so that Indian cricket stays on in the cruise mode of the latter part of the Rahul Dravid era.
