Rahul, Kohli failures in India’s top order flop

Despite the 2-0 Test series win in Bangladesh, Indian shaky batters have plenty to ponder as the mega home series versus Australia approaches

For now, India can rejoice in their hard-fought win against Bangladesh in the second Test, but there is no escaping some of the questions they will have to answer, particularly about the top order. Against Bangladesh, in both the Tests, the batting came under pressure. Except for the second innings of the first Test, the top-order was carved open by the home team bowlers.

KL Rahul (AFP)

The scores in the two games tell the story. In the first innings of the first Test, India were 48/3. In Mirpur, they were 94/4 in the first innings and 37/4 in the second. That India recovered to win both the Tests is another matter.

Much was expected of senior batters KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, but both had modest returns. That brought pressure on the middle-order. Stand-in captain and opening batter, Rahul’s scores in the series read 22, 23, 10 and 2. The 123 at Centurion in December last year and the 50 at Johannesburg in January now feel so distant. Since then, his last seven innings read 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10 and 2.

Kohli also had a forgettable Test series with scores of 1, 19*, 24 and 1. The 79 at Newlands against South Africa in January is his only half-century of 2022.

Rahul admitted there are lessons to be learnt from the Bangladesh experience. “After playing a few Tests, you obviously have that responsibility to do well. That never changes whatever format you are playing; (you want to) do the best you can, (but) that doesn’t happen every time. At least I have seen a few ups and downs in whatever little cricket I have played. I know that neither of the things last too long, you have to keep looking forward and keep trying to get better, improve yourself and improve your skill, just keep looking forward to the next challenge,” Rahul said in the post-match press conference.

The focus shifts to the four Tests against Australia starting in February. Given how tight the race for the World Test Championship final is with South Africa just a couple of percentage points off second-placed India (India 58.93%, SA 54.55%), getting a result in each Test against table-toppers Australia is important. It puts India in a spot over the pitches they would like to prepare.

“To win, they have to go for bowler-friendly pitches but if the top-order is shaky they might have to reconsider taking that risk. Overall, the story in Bangladesh was India’s batters not looking secure in defence against spin.

“The four Tests against Australia are very important, and that too at home. Pitches I am guessing will be very similar to how we played here, there will be assistance for spin and that’s something as batters we have to adapt. You will like the individuals to make their own choice and trust that, come with their preparations, study the opposition, the pitch conditions and try to give your best.

“After that, what happens is in nobody’s control and you accept whatever comes. But preparation is in our hand, and we will do that... (but) we will never be perfect. If we play only spin for the next month, it doesn’t guarantee that against Australia we will make four hundreds and (win) all four matches, we will still get out. It (also) depends on your mindset on that particular day, how hungry you are to perform for your team, that is what counts at the end of the day.

“It is exciting, what mistakes we have made here and this experience will be handy for us to understand where our game is against spin and then you go back and have a little bit of time to work on your game.”

One of the challenges for all-format players like Rahul and Kohli is that they have no time to adjust between limited overs and Test cricket. Anyway, Tests are few and far between. India played just 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 in his first Tests since South Africa in January. On December 10, he played a one-dayer and was playing the first Test on December 14. A three-day gap to switch formats, mentally and physically, is not easy. Rahul said while the players are grateful for the opportunity to play all formats, the challenge to adjust is there.

“When you are playing all three formats, it is a bit tricky to just jump from one format to the other. Personally at least I haven’t played Test cricket in some time now. It takes a bit of time to get back into your groove and understand and take your mind back to what were the things you were doing right when you were playing well or doing well in Test cricket. That’s the challenge of playing at this level, something which excites me. Performances in this series have not been great, I can accept that. I tried my best and it didn’t work, but I always look forward and see what I can do better the next time.”