The Test series in the West Indies next month, kicking off India's World Test Championship (WTC) campaign for 2023-25, is a transition point after losing back-to-back WTC finals in 2021 and 2023.
The batting failed on both occasions and sorting this out should be the first order of business for selectors. As long as India keep going back to fading stars in the hope they will shine again, it limits the scope for grooming new talent. It was strange to see the same top five batsmen in the Indian side for the 2021 and 2023 WTC finals.
It's not as if their performances have been good enough to keep out fresh talent. Cheteshwar Pujara had a dismal run from the start of 2020, averaging below 30, but heroic knocks in Sydney and Brisbane in 2021 gave him a long rope. Finally, he was dropped after India lost a series in South Africa at the start of 2022.
But lo and behold, after a brief flirtation with Hanuma Vihari, the selectors brought Pujara back to the No.3 slot by the end of the year. He scored a ton against Bangladesh to end a four-year drought of centuries. If the selectors back-slapped one another, it didn't last. Pujara scored a solitary fifty in the following series against tougher opponents Australia, and then failed in both innings of the WTC final this month.
The last six months have been a missed opportunity to groom a new No.3. If not Vihari, there were other options. Suryakumar Yadav has so far failed to take his T20 daredevilry into the longer formats, but shouldn't a batsman with such brilliant strokeplay have received more than a solitary Test to prove himself?
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