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For now, India can enjoy their hard-earned win against Bangladesh in the second Test, but there is no escaping some questions they will have to answer, especially regarding the top-order. The batting came under pressure in both the Tests against Bangladesh. Except in the second innings of the First Test, the top order was ripped open by the home team’s bowlers.
The scores of both the matches tell the story. India’s score was 48/3 in the first innings of the first test. At Mirpur, he was 94/4 in the first innings and 37/4 in the second. India coming back after winning both the Tests is another matter.
A lot was expected from senior batsmen KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, but both delivered modest returns. This put pressure on the middle order. Stand-in captain and opening batsman, Rahul’s scores in the series read 22, 23, 10 and 2. 123 at Centurion in December last year and 50 at Johannesburg in January seem a long way off now. Since then, his last seven innings have read 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10, and 2.
Kohli also had a forgettable Test series with scores of 1, 19*, 24 and 1. His 79 against South Africa at Newlands in January is his only fifty of 2022.
Rahul accepted that lessons should be learned from Bangladesh’s experience. He said, ‘After playing a few Tests, there is definitely a responsibility on you to perform well. Whatever format you’re playing it never changes; (You want to) do your best that you can, (but) it doesn’t happen every time. In whatever little bit of cricket I have played, at least I have seen some ups and downs. I know nothing lasts very long, you have to keep looking forward and keep trying to get better, improve yourself and improve your skills, just look forward to the next challenge,” Rahul said in the press conference after the match.
The focus is on the four Test matches against Australia starting in February. Given that the race for the World Test Championship final is tied with South Africa only a few percentage points behind second-placed India (India 58.93%, South Africa 54.55%), getting results in each Test against table-toppers Australia is vital Is. It puts India in a spot on the pitches they want to prepare.
“To win, they will have to go for bowler-friendly pitches, but if the top-order is shaky they may have to reconsider taking that risk. Overall, the story in Bangladesh has been India’s batsmen’s defense against spin Was not visible.
“The four Tests against Australia are very important, and that too at home. I’m guessing the pitches will be similar to what we played here, there will be support for spin and that’s something we as batsmen will have to adapt to. You would like guys to pick their own choices and trust you to come in with your preparations, watch the opposition, know the pitch conditions and try to give your best.
What happens after this is not in anyone’s control and they accept whatever comes. But the preparation is in our hands, and we will do that… (but) we will never be perfect. If we play only spin next month, there is no guarantee that we will score four hundreds against Australia and win all four matches and still get out. It (also) depends on your mindset on that particular day, how hungry you are to perform for your team, that’s what matters at the end of the day.
“It’s exciting, what mistakes have we made here and this experience will be handy for us to understand where our game is against spin and then go back and have a little bit of time to work on our game.”
One challenge for players like Rahul and Kohli across formats is that they do not have time to adjust between limited overs and Test cricket. Anyway, Tests are few and far between. India played only six Tests this year. One against South Africa in January, two against Sri Lanka in March, one against England in July and two in Bangladesh.
Rahul played his first Test after South Africa in January. He played one ODI on 10 December and was playing the first Test on 14 December. A three day gap is not easy to change formats mentally and physically. Rahul said the players are grateful for the opportunity to play across formats, but adjustment is a challenge.
“When you are playing all three formats, it is a bit difficult to jump from one format to another. Personally, at least I haven’t played Test cricket for quite some time now. It takes a while to get back into your groove and understand and get your mind back to what you were doing when you were playing well or doing well in Test cricket. It is the challenge of playing at this level that excites me. Performance in this series has not been good, I can accept that. I tried my best and it didn’t work, but I always look ahead and see what I can do better next time.
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