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Dhaka: Even as the Indian squad prepares to don whites once again, there are mixed feelings about how things have panned out for the team over the past few months. It has been a slew of instant cricket, with little to celebrate, be it the T20 World Cup, or the bilateral series against New Zealand and Bangladesh, in that order. More than the results, the sheer number of changes in the sides have made things a little strange and a lot of questions are left unanswered, not least the big queries about the future of senior and some not-so-senior players.
New Zealand didn’t see Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli in action, while the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are ostensibly still not fit enough for anything.
Then came the series in Bangladesh and Suryakumar Yadav was rested. Immediately thereafter, Rohit Sharma got injured and thereafter was ruled out of the fort the last One-Day International and also the first Test.
Jadeja and now Mohammad Shami too is on the casualty list, while Bumrah is still not available.
In the midst of all that, we suddenly see Rishabh Pant returning home, though not for any disciplinary or fitness issues, according to the cricket board.
But when it comes to announcing the Test squad, KL Rahul get to lead and Cheteshwar Pujara is named his deputy. Essentially, Pant is not the vice-captain.
No reason is given for this either.
By the time the squad is revised for the first Test, there are names like KS Bharat, Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar in the list and eventually also Jaydev Unadkat.
While Unadkat probably deserves his spot, especially with his ability as captain as Saurashtra ran away with the Vijay Hazare title.
But no mention of Ruturaj Gaikwad. Evidently, red-hot form is not all that we make it out to be, especially when it comes to selecting an Indian team.
Also in the fray are Abhimanyu Easwaran, as well as Kuldeep Yadav, who seems to have been relegated to being a stop-gap for Yuzvendra Chahal.
In essence, it is a team made for catering to fitness issues, short or prolonged, as India face Bangladesh in the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram from Wednesday.
Amidst all of this, there is of course also the case of KL Rahul.
Looks like the batter has quite a lot of supporters withing the board. Little else explains the extended stay.
Rahul was keeping wickets in the ODI series against Bangladesh, indicating that this could well be a role he is being prepared for, come the ICC World Cup at home next year.
That being the case, Ishan Kishan’s sensational double-century in the last ODI is irrelevant (Kishan didn’t keep in that match either), and at the same time, all of us, it seems, are backing the wrong horse in Sanju Samson.
The Indian cricket board was never famous for its transparency but it seems that off late the shroud of mystery and conspiracy theories is thickening more than ever before.
Not the best way to resume the Test season. But that is how it is played in India. Mysteries and moderation are the name of the game.
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