BATTING TRANSITION HITS SNAG

Young Indian batters have had a tough time cementing their place in the Test team since breaking into the set-up

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

WHEN Rohit Sharma handed the team sheet over to Ben Stokes at the toss before the first Test, it marked a couple of firsts. Yashasvi Jaiswal's first Test at home. At one drop, it was Shubman Gill; in that position for the first time out of design in India. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, two of the better players of spin in this line-up, came at Nos. 4 and 5; another first in that order.

In isolation, these are not surprises. If Virat Kohli was in the squad, he would have walked into bat at No. 4, with one of Shreyas or Gill carrying the drinks. But zoom out the lens a bit. It is clear that the squad is in the middle of a slow but painful transition. While Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane continue to make their presence felt by being absent, the management have moved on from them. The problem when going through a transition is that players take time to adapt and grow. That's even before you consider the challenging pitches they have played at home. It will take time. But how much rope is too much? Coach Rahul Dravid had sung from the same hymn sheet before the Test. "Sometimes you forget that it takes people a little bit of time," he had said.

"Some guys have success instantly. Actually, he's one of those guys. He's done really well in some of his early tours, especially in Australia. To be fair to him and a lot of the young guys coming through, a lot of them have played on really challenging wickets, whether in India or overseas...

"But he's doing all the right things. He's working really hard, he's putting in the time, putting in the effort. His last season, he got a couple of nice hundreds for us, one in Bangladesh, one in Ahmedabad. So, I think he's on the right track.

Just hoping that over the course of this five-match series, he has some big performances."