Youth or experience? Old formulas or out-of-the-box ideas? Playing it safe or high-stakes gambles? What are the best tactical plans Indian Test cricket strategists need to draw up in terms of personnel as we head into a new year?

Unless you are an extremist, chances are you would say the best strategy is a healthy mix of all of the above. But let’s face it—that is the safe answer. Treading the middle ground when it comes to deciding which way to steer a team in transition is not the easiest thing to do. When you go neither this way nor that, there can be confusion and mixed signals, and a lot can be lost in translation. 

Any cricketer worth his or her salt also knows that they can’t adopt the ostrich formula—you have to be ready to embrace change. See how seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami etc take the young guns under their wings and also don’t fail to notice the confidence that the youngsters these days exude, thanks to the backing they are getting from the powers that be—both on and off the field.

A Safe Change

There was a time when fans broke out in a cold sweat when they thought about what would happen once Sunil Gavaskar or Kapil Dev or Sachin Tendulkar retired. Today, the team could be minus a Virat, a Rohit or a Shami, and no one would bat an eyelid. In the five-match home series with England earlier this year, there was no Virat and no Shami, and India had as many as five Test debutantes: Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep and Rajat Patidar. The 22-year-old Jaiswal was the Player of the Series, thanks to his mammoth tally of 712 runs, as he became only the second Indian batter ever to score 700-plus runs in a Test series after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. India won the series 4-1.

The change that is currently unfolding in Indian Test cricket feels almost safe. The youngsters are playing very promising cricket, both at home and away (though more consistency is needed in away Tests). Indian cricket is in an unprecedented phase wherein both the batting and bowling supply lines are incredibly healthy. You don’t need to look beyond four players who are playing in Australia currently—Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana—to understand this. Don’t focus on individual scorecards but on the overall picture of the impact youngsters are having in Indian Test cricket. After all, the team is being built for at least the next five to ten years, and the First-Class arena is throwing up some incredible talent.

A Replay

The model to boost youngsters is working and needs to be strengthened. In Gautam Gambhir, the BCCI has the kind of coach who doesn’t fear backlash or brickbat as long as the long-term plan for the future is on track. The big question here is, how much of the Board’s backing does he have? It’s not just rebuilding, India need to start winning the big series under him. The home loss against New Zealand can be forgotten perhaps only if they win this time in Australia. That along with qualification for the WTC could have a significant impact on Gambhir’s performance assessment. 

India shouldn’t fear change right now. Almost exactly a decade ago, we witnessed a huge transition in Indian cricket when MS Dhoni handed the baton of Test captaincy to Virat Kohli. Under Dhoni, the team had reached the number-one spot in the Test rankings, but there came a time when they had lost 15 of 23 overseas Tests. Dhoni himself decided to step down as Test captain in the middle of a Test series in Australia. The next chapter saw “Fighting fire with fire” becoming the new Team India mantra. Fresh blood was infused and Indian Test cricket evolved as the team went on to become a real force to be reckoned with in the longest format, winning 16 away Tests. Kohli overtook Dhoni as India’s most successful Test skipper and also became the most successful Asian captain in SENA countries (seven Test wins).

Curtains Down On An Era

We stand on the cusp of another tectonic shift in Indian Test cricket today. The team has moved on from Test veterans like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha. Ashwin, too, has brought the curtain down on his career. The likes of Yashasvi, Shubman Gill, K.L. Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj have been effectively integrated into the Test system. Jurel, Washington Sundar, Rana and Nitish Reddy will, in all probability, also follow suit. That effectively leaves the likes of Virat, Rohit, Shami and Jadeja as the only ‘super seniors’.

For Virat and Rohit in particular, time is running out. Legacy and superstar status still go a long way of course, but with the kind of talent that is knocking on the door and with ‘evolution’ becoming a keyword, these two stalwarts have to start performing consistently if they want to continue playing Test cricket. In 24 Test innings this year (till after the Brisbane Test vs Aus), Rohit has scored a total of 607 runs, at an average of 26.39, with two centuries and two half-centuries. Virat in the same period has played 17 Test innings, scoring 376 runs, at an average of 25.06, with one century. His career batting average in Tests stands at an eight-year low (47.49). Unless they go completely ballistic in the two remaining Tests in Australia, will we see them board the flight to the UK for the tour of England next year? 

It would be fair to say that the jury is out on that one. It wasn’t a surprise to see both these icons retiring from T20Is after India won the last edition of the T20 World Cup. They went out on a high. Another Test series win in Australia this time could be the best opportunity for them to bring the curtain down on their Test careers as well, though this is the toughest format for a cricketer to say goodbye to. The management knows very well, just like every cricket fan in the world, that Jasprit Bumrah is more than ready to take over as Test captain. Shami still has to prove his fitness and will be given a few more chances of course, but with the likes of Rana, Deep and Prasidh Krishna finding their names on the squad sheet more regularly, the competition in the fast-bowling space is also heating up. Because of his all-round abilities, including fielding smarts, Jadeja might hold on longer than the others. But again, with the likes of Axar Patel, Tanush Kotian (who replaced Ashwin in India squad) and Tilak Verma around, he, too, will be feeling the heat.

It’s a cliché, yes, but change is indeed the only constant. No one knows that better than an athlete.

(The author is a former sports editor and primetime sports news anchor. He is currently a columnist, features writer and stage actor)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

It’s a very exciting time for Indian cricket. The possibility of a third straight World Test Championship final beckons, along with the chance of completing a hat-trick of Test series wins in Australia, the supply line of talented players across formats seems to be very healthy, India are the reigning T20 World champions and occupy the top spot in the ICC ODI and T20 team rankings, along with the second spot in the Test listings, the IPL is going from strength to strength, and an Indian is the ICC Chairman again.

For those of you who like to look ahead though, there’s no doubt that the question ‘Who should be India’s next Test captain after Rohit Sharma?’ has crossed your mind. Sometimes, in life, the obvious choice is not the best one. In this case though, the obvious choice is just so appealing that it’s difficult to look beyond it. In the absence of the captain, the vice-captain (usually) steps up to lead the team. As and when Rohit retires from Test cricket, the powers that be should look at following the same, simple formula to pick the next long-term Indian Test captain. Look no further than vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah.

Split Captaincy A Constant Now?

Before delving into why Bumrah is the ideal Test captaincy option, let’s also address a question that you might be asking right now: is split captaincy going to be a constant in Indian cricket going forward? Well, as things stand, it very much does look like that. It will be interesting to see who the Indian Board thinks is best suited for ODI captaincy once Rohit retires from that format or altogether from international cricket. Will the duties for ODI stewardship also be handed to Suryakumar Yadav, whose overall fitness and availability is what made the selectors pick him as (what looks like) India’s long-term T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya? But these are questions for later. As far as the Test format is concerned, it would be silly to look at anyone else but Bumrah.

In all my experience of covering Indian and global sports, the one golden rule that emerged (and one that cuts across all lines of work) is that a sure-shot way of being a good leader is to lead by example. Set the bar high. Anyone worth his or her salt will tell you the same. Respect cannot be bought, it has to be earned. When it comes to leading a cricket team, a captain has to be many things: a good man/woman manager, a good communicator, a shrewd strategist, a good listener, a quick thinker capable of drawing up on-the-spot plans if things aren’t going right, supportive, encouraging, lively, polite, not over-the-top and yet not a pushover. Along with all this, a captain should be someone who stands out in terms of his/her own performance on the field. And that is what works most in Bumrah’s favour. That is what we saw in the Perth Test recently.

A Reflection Of Another Great

A casual look at the scorecard from that match, which India won by a dominating margin of 295 runs, shows Jasprit Bumrah listed as the Man of the Match for his match figures of 8/72. Though that is not enough to properly encapsulate the impact he had on the match. Test cricket is the longest format of the game and unlike T20 or even ODI cricket, you don’t find too many matches that tilt in the favour of one team decisively, in large part because of the efforts of one player. That is the kind of impact Bumrah had in Perth. But then, he is that kind of rarity–someone who can take the pitch and the conditions entirely out of the equation to deliver body blow after body blow till the opposition is reeling and ready to be knocked out. A lot like the great Kapil Dev, whom Bumrah has been compared to quite a bit of late. The comparisons, however, are fruitless, because the eras, the rules, the fast bowling supporting cast, their bowling actions, are all different. 

What cannot be debated though is that Bumrah could well become one of the all-time greats, just like Kapil Dev. However, this is not a dissection of how great a bowler Bumrah is, but an attempt to look at the facts at our disposal that suggest that he is a very, very good long-term Test captaincy option.

A Way With The Ball

Some of you might have forgotten that Bumrah had worn the captain’s armband in Tests once before as well. In the 2022 Birmingham Test vs England, Bumrah led the team as Rohit was recovering from COVID-19. India lost that match by seven wickets, but Bumrah was the leading Indian wicket-taker, with five scalps. In England’s second innings, which was dominated by centuries by Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*), Bumrah was the only one amongst the wickets, castling Zak Crawley for 46 and having Ollie Pope caught behind for a duck.

Apart from his heroics with the ball—albeit in a losing cause—what stood out were Bumrah’s comments when asked about captaincy before the match: “Getting such an opportunity is probably one of the biggest achievements of my career… nothing changes for me, you have to do the job.” The comments were a healthy mix of honesty, humility, practicality and job awareness. In other words, quintessentially Bumrah.

Making Others Comfortable

And that, along with his almost superhuman abilities to make a cricket ball dance to his tunes, is his other big strength. He is mostly a down-to-earth person, largely humble, respected and admired by seniors and juniors alike, ready to whisper that extra word of encouragement in a fellow bowler’s ear, and also ready to listen, collate and learn. Any player who thinks he or she knows it all is doomed to fail. It applies all the more to leaders. They must always be ready to learn, not just from those with more experience, but sometimes even from those who fall in the ‘junior’ bracket. Here I am reminded of a few scenes from the Indian dressing room in the Perth Test this time, when Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were wearing down the Aussie bowlers in India’s second innings. When the director asked for the feed to cut to one of the cameras focussed on the Indian dressing room, we witnessed just how cordially and patiently Bumrah was listening to and then conversing with debutante Harshit Rana. The body language of a debutante in the dressing room tells a million stories about how comfortable he or she is feeling. Virat Kohli is a similar leading figure—always ready to advise and guide—he has remained the same even after his captaincy spell. It wasn’t really a surprise then to hear Rana say that ‘Jassi bhai’ and ‘Virat bhai’ were the two players who gave him ‘a different kind of confidence’ in his very first Test match.

If Bumrah does go on to become India’s full-time Test captain, he will in many ways be a trendsetter. The only other fast-bowling captain India has had in Test cricket has been Kapil Dev, who belongs to that rare breed of complete all-rounders. The likes of Shaun Pollock, Ben Stokes and to an extent Imran Khan (six Test centuries), Wasim Akram (three Test centuries) and Jason Holder (three Test centuries) have also been genuine all-rounder captains. Bumrah is an out-and-out fast bowler.

Why Bowlers Make Good Captains

Throughout the history of the sport, there has been some mental block towards appointing bowlers as captains. Batters have always been the preferred choice. This has presumably been because a batter’s overall workload allows them to spend more time to strategise. However, it’s a bowler who lives through the changing nature of the pitch, who knows best what bowling strategy to adopt when and from which end. It makes a lot of tactical sense to have a bowler as a captain. Also, when a fast bowler is made captain, the decision comes with the unsaid and unwritten rider that he or she needs to be careful about how much they are bowling themselves vis-à-vis the other bowlers. Neither too much nor too little is acceptable. The same was a big talking point when Pat Cummins was appointed as Australia’s Test and ODI captain.

It’s a strange thing to worry about, really. Who would want to bowl themselves if they are not fresh? Who would realistically not throw the ball to another bowler who can possibly get a breakthrough? Isn’t winning the match for the team of paramount importance, always? Bumrah was quizzed about the same before the Perth Test and his response to that was emphatic—“I can manage myself the best when I am the captain”.

Why Selectors Trust Him

Managing injuries is another challenge altogether, and Bumrah has dealt with his fair share of that in the recent past. Lower back stress fractures kept him on the sidelines for 11 months. But, as soon as he was cleared to play, he was appointed captain of the B-team that toured Ireland for three T20Is. India won the series 2-0 (the third T20I was washed out). Bumrah was adjudged player of the series for his four wickets at an average of 9.75. There’s a visible trust that the selectors place in his leadership abilities.

For now, he is the vice-captain of the Test team and the pace spearhead, and his complete focus will be on helping his team complete a third straight Test series win Down Under. But when the time comes, let’s hope the powers that be don’t look beyond Jasprit Bumrah as India’s next Test captain.

(The author is a former sports editor and primetime sports news anchor. He is currently a columnist, features writer and stage actor)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Indian squad celebrate the victory in the first Border-Gavaskar Test match against Australia, in Perth.
| Photo Credit: ANI

It was a weekend of rain and runs for the Indians at Canberra. The warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval was touted as the ideal base ahead of the second Test in Adelaide from Friday (December 6, 2024). A two-day tussle under lights and against the pink ball was also seen as a lens to understand how players were primed for the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

In the end, damp skies washed out Saturday’s play while a kind sun and floodlights at night ensured a Sunday (December 1, 2024) contest with its facade of a limited overs skirmish but one that had the depth of a Test match. Among India’s leading stars, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R. Ashwin, played no role while all the others had their turns either as a batter or bowler.

India won with ease and even tucked into the host’s courtesy and batted the full quota of 46 overs much after going past the winning tape. There were these little stories within perhaps a friendly battle. That K.L. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal strode out as openers could be seen as a hat-tip to the combined form they revealed especially during their second outing in the first Test at Perth. But does that mean, a rejig is in order?

With Shubman Gill having recovered from an injury and batting well, he obviously slots in at number three, a position earlier strengthened by the broad willows of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid. If the past is a yardstick, then maybe Rohit will continue teaming up with Jaiswal atop the batting tree and yet the Canberra sojourn and the skipper’s meagre three from 11 deliveries, does raise some questions.

The Mumbaikar, all fluid sixes and rapid yields in ODIs, has a lone fifty in his last 10 innings from Tests. To be fair, he did try to dig in on Sunday before chasing one outside the off-stump. Till then Rohit looked his part at the crease. He has always put team over self, and never worries about statistical judgements. It remains to be seen if in the twilight phase of his career, he would go back to the middle-order, counter the old ball and be well set to tackle the new cherry.

Perhaps, with Prithvi Shaw losing his way, in a post-Rohit stage, a Rahul-Jaiswal combine may do the opening honours unless Gill moves up again. There is enough strategy to chew upon for the Indian management over the next few days. That Rohit and Gill are back in the playing eleven with Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel making way, is the presumed reality.

Kohli’s unbeaten 100 at Perth is a good sign and if Rohit can join forces, India will flourish for the rest of the series. Pushed into the opening slot, Rohit had prospered in Tests, maybe he will still do that against a tough rival unless a middle-order foray is what he and the management are looking at for now.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir during a pre-departure press conference before leaving for Australia tour, in Mumbai, on November 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Head coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday (November 11, 2024) said Jasprit Bumrah, as designated vice-captain, will lead India in the opening Test against Australia in Perth if regular skipper Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the game due to personal reasons.

The straight-talking former opener also indicated that KL Rahul could be asked to open the innings in place of Rohit.

The second batch of the Indian players is leaving for Perth, but Rohit has stayed back. Uncertainty remains if Rohit will compete in the series-opener.

“At the moment, there is no confirmation. We will let you know exactly what the situation will be. Hopefully, he is going to be available, but everything you want to know, you will get to know before the start of the series,” Gambhir said.

“Bumrah is the vice-captain, so obviously If Rohit is not available, he is going to lead in Perth,” the coach added.

Rahul likely to open

Rohit’s possible absence also leaves a spot vacant at the top of the batting order and Gambhir said one among the uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul, who both played in the unofficial Tests against Australia A for India A, will be picked.

“Obviously, there is Easwaran, there is KL there. We will take a call closer to the first Test match if Rohit is not available.

“There are options. There are quite a lot of options in this spot. Once it gets closer to the first Test match, we will try and play the best playing XI who is going to do the job for us,” he added.

However he gave enough indications that Rahul’s experience might prevail over rookie Easwaran’s current form.

“There are times when you go with the experienced players as well and that is the quality of the man. He (Rahul) can actually bat at the top of the order, he can bat at number 3 and at number 6 as well,” said the former southpaw.

“So you need quite a lot of talent to be doing these kind of jobs as well and he has kept wickets in One-day format as well. So imagine how many countries have players like KL who can actually open the batting and can bat at number 6 as well? “So I feel that if needed be, I think he (Rahul) can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test match,” Gambhir said.

Team moving forward, coach hints on Shardul non-selection

The coach backed uncapped all-rounder Nitish Reddy, who has a batting average of 21 in first-class cricket, and was picked ahead of veteran pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

“It is also about moving forward and I feel that this is the best set of players that we have selected to do the job for the country,” Gambhir said. indicating that doors are closed on Shardul for the time being.

Shardul was one of India’s heroes at the Gabba with handful of wickets and a half-century. He has been seamer all-rounder in SENA countries.

“We have picked the best squad who can do the job for us. Nitish Reddy, we all know that how incredibly talented he is and if given an option, he will deliver for us,” Gambhir said.

Why Harshit Rana wasn’t sent for A tour?

Rana was not sent with the India A squad for the unofficial ‘Tests’ in Australia to be ready for the BGT series but Gambhir said the management did not want to add to his workload by getting him to play First-Class games.

“He had played a first-class game against Assam and he did reasonably well (took five-for and scored half-century). We all thought that he has had enough bowling under his belt rather than just sending and playing him another first-class game,” Gambhir said.

“For us, it is important for a fast bowler to be fresh as well. It is going to be a long tour, it is going to be a five-Test match series. The bowling coach, the physios and the trainers thought that he has had enough under his belt and that was one of the reasons,” he added.

While there is no Mohammed Shami and tremendous pressure on Jasprit Bumrah to carry the pace bowling load, Gambhir feels that the attack is potent even with three inexperienced speedsters in Rana, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep.

“We have got quality. We have got tall guys who can hit the deck like Prasidh and Harshit. All five guys have different skill sets. That makes our fast bowling attack very very potent.”

10 days of training good enough

Gambhir, who will be travelling with the second batch of Indian squad on Monday (November 11, 2024), said adjusting to conditions in Australia over the next 10 days will be vital for the team.

“We have got a lot of experienced players who have been to Australia a lot of times. Their experience will come in handy for the young players as well. These 10 days are going to be very crucial but come 22nd morning, we should be absolutely ready to fire from ball one,” he said.

Australian pacer Scott Boland wants to extend the barren run of KL Rahul and keep him under pressure ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. File photo
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Australian pacer Scott Boland wants to extend the barren run of KL Rahul and keep him under pressure ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when he faces the Indian batter in the four-day A-Team match here from Thursday.

Rahul along with wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel flew early to Australia, and will appear for India A in the second four-day game at the MCG.

“I was lucky to bowl to him in a Test over in India a couple of years ago but it’ll be nice to play against him in our backyard,” Boland was quoted saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Rahul made a hundred on his debut tour to Australia in 2015, a 110 at Sydney, but his overall performance Down Under remains scratchy, evidenced by an average of 20.77 across four Tests.

Boland wants to heap more misery on the 32-year-old.

“He’s a world-class player but someone I think we can get on top of pretty early and hopefully stay on top of him for the majority of the summer,” said Boland.

Rahul was dropped from India’s eleven after the first Test against New Zealand at Bengaluru where he made 0 and 12.

It was a continuation of his modest run since cracking a hundred against South Africa at Centurion in December 2023.

Since then, he made just two fifties across nine innings against SA, England, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

But the Bengaluru man could return to the eleven if skipper Rohit Sharma skips the first Test against the Aussies at Perth, starting from November 22, owing to personal reasons.

Boland also remained cautious about the impact of India’s recent 0-3 whitewash at home by the Kiwis.

The 35-year-old said India has enough experience to make a comeback.

“There’s so much more bounce here, more seam. The way they’ll structure their team (in Australia) will be completely different to what you see over in India,” he noted.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is retained, but Rishabh Pant is not. Andre Russell is retained, but Shreyas Iyer is not. Rajat Patidar is retained, K.L. Rahul is not.

The suspense over player retention ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) player retentions ahead of next month’s big player auction was over on Thursday (October 31, 2024) evening with the official list of retentions having been announced.

In all, 46 players were retained by their respective franchises from a maximum of 60 slots available. It means that the player auction will see a maximum of 204 spots up for grab next month.

As expected – and reported by The Hindu earlier – Pant, Shreyas Iyer and K.L. Rahul were released by their respective franchises. While Heinrich Klaasen has emerged as the most expensive retention at ₹23 crore for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli is the most expensive Indian to be retained at ₹21 crore by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Mumbai Indians, as reported earlier, have kept the awesome foursome –Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav – on its roster along with promising Tilak Varma.

Chennai Super Kings have decided to persist with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Dhoni and Shivam Dube. Dhoni — the veteran — and Sandeep Sharma (Rajasthan Royals) have been retained as uncapped players, thanks to a modification in uncapped player regulations.

Complete list of Retained players teamwise

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (₹18 cr.), Abhishek Sharma (₹14 cr.), Nitish Kumar Reddy (₹6 cr.), Heinrich Klaasen (₹23 cr.), Travis Head (₹14 cr.).

Available purse: ₹45 cr.

Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah (₹18 cr.), Suryakumar Yadav (₹16.35 cr.), Hardik Pandya (₹16.35 cr.), Rohit Sharma (₹16.30 cr.), Tilak Varma (₹8 cr.).

Available purse: ₹45 cr.

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹18 cr.), Matheesha Pathirana (₹13 cr.), Shivam Dube (₹12 cr.), Ravindra Jadeja (₹18 cr.), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹55 cr.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh (₹13 cr.), Varun Chakravarthy (₹12 cr.), Sunil Narine (₹12 cr.), Andre Russell (₹12 cr.), Harshit Rana (₹4 cr.), Ramandeep Singh (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹51 cr.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (₹18 cr.), Yashasvi Jaiswal (₹18 cr.), Riyan Parag (₹14 cr.), Dhruv Jurel (₹14 cr.), Shimron Hetmyer (₹11 cr.), Sandeep Sharma (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹41 cr.

Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran (₹21 cr.), Ravi Bishnoi (₹11 cr.), Mayank Yadav (₹11 cr.), Mohsin Khan (₹4 cr.), Ayush Badoni (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹69 cr.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli (₹21 cr.), Rajat Patidar (₹11 cr.), Yash Dayal (₹5 cr.).

Available purse: ₹83 cr.

Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan (₹18 cr.), Shubman Gill (₹16.50 cr.), B. Sai Sudharsan (₹8.50 cr.), Rahul Tewatia (₹4 cr.), Shahrukh Khan (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹69 cr.

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (₹16.50 cr.), Kuldeep Yadav (₹13.25 cr.), Tristan Stubbs (₹10 cr.), Abhishek Porel (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹73 cr.

Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh (₹5.50 cr.), Prabhsimran Singh (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹110.5 cr.

K.L. Rahul remembers the interview with Karan Johar in a recent podcast interaction. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Indian middle-order batter K.L. Rahul said that his suspension from the Indian cricket team following a controversial episode of the programme “Koffee With Karan” with Bollywood director Karan Johar and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya “scarred him massively.”

Notably, back in 2019, both Hardik and KL were handed suspensions from the national team and fined ₹20 lakh for Hardik’s misogynist comments, before they could return to the team.

While KL and Hardik featured in the ICC Cricket World Cup that year and suspension did not last very long, it still had a bad effect on K.L., who admitted to “never being suspended in school”.

Also Read:  Not panicking, but we will have difficult conversations: K.L. Rahul

Speaking as quoted by Wisden on entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s YouTube channel, Rahul said, “The [Koffee With Karan] interview was a different world altogether. That changed me. I was a very shy, soft-spoken boy growing up. Then I played for India, and for the next three-four years, I became very confident. I had no problem being a huge group of people. People would know I have been in a room with 100 people because I would talk to everyone.”

“Now I do not, because the interview scarred me massively. Getting suspended from the team… I have never been suspended in school, never been punished. It just never happened to know how to handle it,” he added.

The middle-order batter, often criticised for his performances and scoring rates, also opened up on receiving online trolling and hate on social media, saying that while he was initially good at facing them, he was subjected to a lot of online abuse later on even while not playing, which affected him.

“I used to be good with [handling] trolling,” he said. “I did not care, but I feel I was much younger back then. And then, a couple of years back, I was exposed to a lot of trolling. If I sat, I got trolled, if I stood, I got trolled,” said Rahul.

K.L. Rahul’s last international appearance was during the ODI series against Sri Lanka, where he scored 31 runs in two innings. Despite a fine ICC Cricket World Cup last year, in which he scored 452 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.33, with a century and two fifties, KL was panned for his knock of 66 in 107 balls during the final against Australia, which India lost by six wickets after failing to defend 241 runs against Australia.

In this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, K.L. also attracted some criticism for his strike rate despite finishing among the top 10 run-getters, with 520 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.14, with four fifties. His strike rate of 136.12, lower in comparison to veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and younger stars like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Rishabh Pant etc was a subject of trolling.

Lance Klusener responded to the Goenka-Rahul video, saying he did not see “any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers”
| Photo Credit: JioCinema screengrab

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener on Monday played down team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s public outburst on their skipper K.L. Rahul, terming it “storm in a tea cup” and said he didn’t find any issue in a “robust discussion between two cricket lovers”.

Social media has been abuzz after Goenka was seen having an animated chat, purportedly reprimanding Rahul after LSG’s record demolition at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, last Wednesday.

There have been speculations about Rahul’s future as LSG skipper also, but Klusener said there has been “certainly no discussions around” the matter.

“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. So for us, I guess it’s just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion. I think that’s how teams get better. So, it’s not a big thing for us,” the South African said during the pre-match press conference.

“This IPL has been tough for Rahul”

Opening the batting, Rahul has scored 460 runs but his strike-rate reads 136.09, and it has put pressure on the LSG middle-order comprising Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Klusener, however, backed the senior batter.

“KL has got his own unique style which has made him a fantastic player and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we’ve kept losing wickets at stages which hasn’t allowed him to kick on where he likes. He probably feels like he’s always having to rebuild.

“I think as a batting unit around KL, we haven’t been as good as we should. It’s just been extremely tough conditions for him. That’s something we’ve chatted about as well — we’ve just kept losing wickets at tough times.”

However, Klusener said a big knock from Rahul was just around the corner.

“Then batters coming in, seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So, I think by KL’s standards, he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games.

“Probably (he) would have liked to have at least one or two hundreds that haven’t worked out for him. But there’s still a couple of games left. He’s in a good space. So, we’ve got our fingers crossed again for him,” he said.

LSG bowling unit was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who racked up a record 167 in 9.4 overs.

“By the bowling unit’s high standards, they didn’t execute as well as they would have liked to on that surface and then you mix in two players who played absolutely beautifully and quite often that ends in a poor result for the team that doesn’t bring their best skills,” Klusener said.

“It was just a mix of some exceptionally hard batting and I don’t think we executed our skills as well as we should have and you mix that together, it doesn’t normally end well.”

LSG are currently at the seventh spot with 12 points, making the remaining two games a must-win contest to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“I think we’ve been just a little bit inconsistent by our own high standards. We just need to deal with the fact of where we are now and make sure that we become consistent.

“As a team, we want to win the IPL, we probably need to win five in a row, which I think RCB has just done five in a row.

“So that’s just proved that for us it’s absolutely possible, but that’s just the big picture. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations.”

File picture of India captain Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
| Photo Credit: AP

Yuzvendra Chahal and Shivam Dube were named in India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The team, announced by BCCI on Tuesday, will be led by Rohit Sharma. Hardik Pandya serves as the vice-captain.

Leggie Chahal, ignored for India’s recent T20 assignments, was picked on the strength of good returns for Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing IPL season. Chahal is the only right-arm spinner in the squad, with southpaws Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav forming the rest of the spin attack.

Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj are the specialist pacers.

Also read | ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024: full schedule, dates and venues

Lucknow Super Giants skipper K.L. Rahul and Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Dinesh Karthik were among the notable omissions. Karthik had harboured hopes of making the bus, after finding good form as a finisher for RCB.

Shubman Gill lost out on the opener slot to Yashasvi Jaiswal. Gill and lower-order batter Rinku Singh were named in the reserves. Rinku gave way to Dube, who has shown a penchant for big hits.

The tournament marks the international comeback of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Pant, who last donned the India cap in December 2022, was forced into a long layoff after suffering a car accident. The 26-year-old has proved his worth in IPL 2024, making vital contributions with the bat for Delhi Capitals (DC) and showing athleticism with the ’keeping gloves.

RR captain and fan-favourite Sanju Samson is the second gloveman. Samson has shone bright for RR, batting at a strike-rate of 161.08 with an average of 77.

Keeping faith in Kohli

The selectors have kept their faith in Virat Kohli, who in recent times has been criticised for not keeping a high strike-rate. Kohli had dismissed these concerns after an unbeaten 44-ball 70 for RCB against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, stating that “it is just about winning the game for the team.”

Trust has also been placed on Hardik, who has struggled in his maiden season as captain of Mumbai Indians. Hardik has failed with both bat and ball, and has faced the ire of MI fans who are unhappy with him replacing Rohit as the MI skipper.

India commences its World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), followed by the highly-anticipated clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.

India then takes on USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

Full squad

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

If KL Rahul leads Lucknow Super Giants to their maiden IPL title, he will automatically be rewarded with a spot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, reckons head coach Justin Langer, who wants his team’s national hopefuls to “concentrate” on doing well for the franchise first.

Rahul, who is coming back from a quadriceps injury and is not expected to keep wickets at the beginning of the IPL, is still not a certainty in the Indian T20 squad and only a good IPL with both the bat and gloves can seal the deal for him.

Asked how he would balance his skipper’s personal ambition with the team’s interests, Langer said it isn’t all that complicated.

“If the team does well, everyone gets rewarded. If KL can captain LSG to IPL title, that means he would have captained well, batted well and kept wickets well,” Langer replied to a PTI query during a season-opening media interaction on Wednesday.

Apart from Rahul, the other serious T20 World Cup contender from LSG is leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

“The message for players, like KL or Bishi (Bishnoi) will be that more they concentrate on playing well for LSG, their chances (of WT20 call-up) will increase.” Rahul is expected to link up with the team on Wednesday evening due to a flight delay but the former Australian opener didn’t say a word about when the star player will start keeping.

“He has followed all the ‘Return To Play’ protocols and he has been hitting a lot of balls.”

Bowling thin on experience but talent amazing

With foreign recruits Mark Wood and David Willey ruled out of the tournament, Lucknow Super Giants’ pace bowling unit looks thin on experience.

Shivam Mavi, the injury prone pacer, hasn’t played competitive cricket since August 2023 while Delhi’s talented tearaway quick Mayank Yadav was out of the entire Ranji Trophy season with a side strain.

Mohsin Khan, the find of the 2022 IPL, has had injury issues and Yash Thakur isn’t very experienced at the tournament level.

“It is a very good observation that we lack some experience in pace department but there is enormous talent. The pacers — they all look fit, healthy and hungry.”

“We need to manage them well not just at start but through the whole tournament. Among pacers Naveen (ul Haq) has played a lot of T20 cricket,” the 2021 T20 World Cup and multiple Ashes winning coach, said.

The coach seemed mighty impressed with Mayank and said he seems to be a phenomenal talent with “serious pace”.

Apart from Naveen, the other overseas fast bowler is Shamar Joseph, the West Indies sensation, who has won hearts with his performances in the recent two Tests in Australia.

However, with very little T20 experience even in the Caribbean Premier League, will he come in handy in IPL? Langer sounded bullish.

“He didn’t have experience even before going into two Test matches,” Langer sounded dismissive about the experience bit.

“I was commentating and I saw him take seven wickets in 37 degrees, 80 per cent humidity and a broken toe. He is an incredible athlete. Smile, spirit, athleticism and skill, he has got all those ingredients that you need to succeed. Another talented guy is Mayank.” Langer was also pretty confident about the spin bowling arsenal of his team, especially Bishnoi and the 41-year-old veteran leg-break bowler Amit Mishra.

Tamil Nadu’s left-arm spinner M Siddharth has also caught coach’s attention.

“He (Bishnoi) is an outstanding bowler. I love his energy. I watched his training. There is no better pure leg-spinner than Mishi (Mishra’s nickname). I saw young M Siddarth, who bowled a maiden over first-up in a training game. There is Krishnappa Gowtham.” Gautam Gambhir was the mentor of LSG before he joined KKR ahead of this season. Asked whether the fans can expect a face-off with the feisty former India player, Langer said there is only admiration for the work he did with the franchise.

“There is no face-off. I was disappointed when he left for KKR but he is a real hero in KKR. We have been good friends,” said Langer, who had once conducted personalised coaching sessions for Gambhir in Perth, when he needed to sort out his game against the short ball.

“But then when we play DC, my good friend Ricky Ponting is the coach, in CSK, Stephen Fleming and Mike Hussey are friends.”

Coaching an IPL team

For Langer, coaching an IPL team is quite similar to coaching an international team.

“It is only at domestic level that you get players for pre-season. At international level, players only assemble before competition phase. So it is pretty similar.” Having guided Australia to a T20 World Cup title, Langer said that he knows the “blue-print of success” but it will be important to execute the plans.

“I have been sleeping well for the past two years after I left coaching Australia. Now I will have sleepless nights in fitting so much talent in just 11 slots,” he said referring to his forced break he had to take after leaving the Australia job for not getting a long-term contract following discontent among players.