India might make to changes to their playing XI from the last time they played an Test match.
On the eve of the India vs South Africa 1st Test, there aren’t many burning questions. The hosts have more or less a settled team. There will be one certain change in India’s starting XI since Nitish Kumar Reddy has been released from the Test squad. The all-rounder is expected to be replaced by Dhruv Jurel.
So far, the wicketkeeper batter has only played when Rishabh Pant has been available. But India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has hinted that Jurel and Pant are likely to play together in the Kolkata Test. “He (Jurel) is certain to play this week. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see Dhruv and Rishabh play together,” Ryan said yesterday.
Jurel has been scoring bucketloads of runs. In his last 8 first-class innings, the 24-year-old has smashed 4 hundreds. One of these was his maiden Test hundred against the West Indies. He’ll most likely bat at number six, behind Pant. And while Jurel’s selection is justified, it creates an issue.
Pant & Jurel: India’s wicketkeeper conundrum
All former wicketkeepers agree that Jurel is a better keeper than Pant. But there hasn’t been even one Test where the latter has played and not kept wickets, excluding injuries. Pant is also India’s wicketkeeper and one of the leaders in the team. But it’s a fact that Jurel is better behind the stumps than him.
This was evident in England as well, when Jurel got the gloves during Pant’s absence. The issue is, who do you take the gloves away from him? He’s not as good as Jurel, but by no means is Pant a bad keeper. Yet, when you have a better option, how can to deliberately tell him to field?
This right here is a conundrum. You see, keepers aren’t much different than all-rounders. When someone like Hardik Pandya fails with the bat or ball, he knows he can still contribute and win the game for his team. Keepers feel the same. But if you take away the gloves from either Jurel or Pant, they might feel they are lesser players than they actually are.
Shubman Gill will have to navigate through this tough situation. Assuming he continues with Pant as the keeper and for whatever reason his glovework isn’t that great for a period, he’ll certainly ponder the decision he took. It’ll be fascinating to see what Gill and Gautam Gambhir do in this aspect.
Will Kuldeep Yadav continue?
Earlier today, Gill heaped praise on the three spin bowling all-rounders India has: Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar. He was answering a question about India’s combination for the Kolkata Test. This made many wonder what he meant exactly.
“We’re fortunate to have the quality of all-rounders that we possess. You can look at the record of any one of them. Axar Patel, Washington (Sundar), or Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja). Their bowling and batting records are really good, especially in India. As a captain, that makes it difficult to choose between them. They are all proper all-rounders,” Gill said on the eve of the Kolkata Test.
Was he just praising them, or was this a hint towards Kuldeep Yadav getting dropped? The wrist spinner has been in excellent touch in Test cricket, taking 12 wickets in 2 matches against the West Indies. But the surface at the Eden Gardens might aid faster spinners more.
We already know that Gill and Gambhir prefer all-rounders over frontline players. This could mean that Axar might be used ahead of Kuldeep, and not just because he bowls faster than Kuldeep, but is definitely a much better batter than him.
