The legendary Sunil Gavaskar is confident that the stylish KL Rahul can excel on Australian tracks just like he did in South Africa last year.
With Rohit Sharma on a paternity break, India have a choice between reserve opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and the seasoned Rahul for partnering Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening Test starting in Perth on Friday.
As of now, the team management is keen on Rahul, who has opened a fair bit for India in Test matches and scored a memorable hundred at Centurion last year. However, he has not been able to find consistency despite featuring in 53 Tests.
“KL Rahul got one of the finest centuries that I have witnessed first-hand in South Africa last year opening the batting, so doing so here again won’t be an issue for him.
“Like all batters he will need some luck at the start and if he gets that he can get the team off to a solid opening,” Gavaskar told PTI in an exclusive interview ahead of the series opener.
Gavaskar, the most respected voice in Indian cricket, has always believed that in Test cricket a team should always play its best bowlers even if it means fielding two spinners.
The Indian team in all likelihood will blood rookie Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who will double up as the fourth seamer.
“I believe that you have to pick your best bowlers for the Test match, never mind how the pitch will behave. In Ashwin and Jadeja, we have bowlers who have taken almost 900 wickets between them. They also have between them more than half a dozen Test centuries under their belts.
“Even if they may not get much help from the pitch, they can, with their skill and experience slow down the scoring and exert pressure on the batters,” the former India skipper explained his rationale.
India are expected to have Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel and Reddy, all playing their first ever Test match Down Under and that too at the fast and bouncy Optus Stadium in Perth.
Gavaskar, inarguably the best player of fast bowling across generations, had one tiny piece of advice for the youngsters.
“Hopefully, the coaching staff has given them practice about playing above the waist and taught them to play besides the line of the ball on pitches with extra bounce. They have to use the crease and be on the back foot a lot more than in India.” Someone who has seen a lot of transitions both as a player and then as an analyst, the ‘Little Master’ doesn’t want to fret on what’s waiting in future.
Asked about how difficult the transition would be, he replied: “I don’t think anybody in the team is looking that far ahead and will be focusing on this Test series especially the first couple of Tests which will be crucial.” Gavaskar is also confident that the talented Indian team has moved on from its 0-3 home series defeat against New Zealand and its sole focus is the upcoming five-match series.
“Just like a batter is trained to forget the previous delivery and focus on the next one, so do good teams forget what’s happened in the previous Test match and concentrate on the next one.
“With the experience in this team, I am sure they will guide the youngsters to look at the next one and not think about the previous one.”
