Selectors expect three-way fight for Virat Kohli's No.4 spot in England: Shubman Gill, KL Rahul or Karun Nair

Hindustan Times

13-05-2025

The last time India lost two batting behemoths in one fell swoop was back in 2012, when Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman announced their retirements from Test cricket after an ill-fated tour of Australia. Between them, they boasted 297 caps, 22,046 runs and 53 centuries. Dravid called time on his career immediately on his return from Australia, Laxman followed suit several months later on the eve of a two-Test home series against New Zealand.
With Virat Kohli (58, 103 and 51*) leading the charge, India overcame Ross Taylor's competitive side 2-0, a wonderful chase of 261 in the second Test in Bengaluru, suggesting that the future of Indian Test batting was in competent, safe hands.
Now, nearly 13 (unlucky?) years on, India's Test batting is again at the crossroads following the retirements of Kohli and Rohit Sharma within a week, the two immediate all-format captains. Their combined numbers, while not as intimidating as the Dravid-Laxman duo, are still formidable – 190 appearances, 13,531 runs, 42 hundreds. When Dravid and Laxman walked away into the sunset, a certain Sachin Tendulkar (who wouldn't retire until November 2013) was still going strong. There is no such consolation now, not with a demanding five-Test series in England starting five weeks hence.
KL Rahul, who cut his teeth in the five-day game in December 2014, looms as India's most experienced specialist batter, though 3,257 runs and an average of 33.57 from 58 appearances aren't exactly out of the topmost drawer. There is a fair sprinkling of experience – Ravindra Jadeja is the country's seniormost active Test cricketer, having debuted in December 2012, while Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill (the projected new captain) and Yashasvi Jaiswal aren't exactly babes in the woods.
But there is no denying the erosion of the intimidation factor India's batting unit boasted when Rohit and Kohli were around, never mind their underwhelming records in the season gone by. Ben Stokes' England will be licking their lips in anticipation, sharpening their Bazball knives and believing that a 5-0 rout isn't beyond them. But they will also be quietly wary of the immense talent and potential in the Indian ranks; there is no substitute for experience, for battle-hardened heads and hearts, but there is something to be said for the fearlessness of youth, a trait that first Kohli and then Rohit walked the extra mile to instill in their successful stints as captains and leaders.
There was a time when a Test tour of England was considered the ultimate challenge. Incessant changes to weather patterns, a plethora of middling-to-very good swing bowlers, a little red orb which facilitated that mode of bowling and pitches that always had something in them for the bowlers combined to ask numerous questions of visiting batters, especially those from the subcontinent, unaccustomed to these vagaries. Much of that has changed in the last three years, since the union of the Kiwi-born duo of Stokes and Brendon McCullum as captain and head coach respectively. Their insistence on batting aggressively at all times, allied with a strange disappearance of swing in the Dukes balls, has resulted in an even-playing field made even further so by a pronounced flattening out of pitches. As such, the demands on touring batters have reduced considerably, though no one should be under any illusion that, given the plethora of pace riches at Stokes' disposal, batting has become a ridiculously easy proposition.
Among India's multiple decision-making headaches are who to plug the Rohit- and Kohli-sized holes with. Where does Rahul slot in? Having been yo-yoed up and down the order in the last 18 months, it's time for the former captain to be presented with a settled position, whether it is at the top of the order, or at No. 4 which Kohli has occupied for so long. Do India invest in the organised and correct Sai Sudharsan as Jaiswal's partner, and therefore have an all-left opening combine? Isn't it time to reward Karun Nair for his prolific run in domestic cricket and bring India's only Test triple-centurion apart from Virender Sehwag back into the five-day scheme of things? And what of Shreyas Iyer, whose revamped approach to the short ball means there is every reason for him to expect to add to his 14 Test caps that have yielded 811 runs?
Then, there are Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar, who both sparkled in patches – the former more so – in Australia and Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain who has been a stellar performer for Madhya Pradesh. This unit doesn't have the same ring as Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly (which one will?) or Rohit, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane. Not yet, one might argue.
Irrespective of India going to England seriously short of experience, what with 106-Test veteran R Ashwin having retired halfway through the Australia series. Perestroika will be the theme, tinged with cautious optimism and a lingering sense of dread (from the fans) as Indian Test cricket approaches a new, testing, exciting era.