After worrying lull, India batters cash in post transition

AFTER the Indian team had departed Australia following an ultimately disappointing series, the management had a sufficient in tray with respect to the batting unit.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

Have conversations with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Find the best position for KL Rahul. Work out Shreyas Iyer's immediate redball future. Identify Shubman Gill's position in the line-up. It was, in essence, going to be a highwire act, returning the block of a shaky jenga to its starting position.

Fast forward 10 months later and it's safe to say that they have managed to solve most of the issues. Yashasvi Jaiswal has found a permanent opener in Rahul, Gill has seamlessly slotted into that role previously occupied by Kohli, Rishabh Pant or Dhruv Jurel have walked in at No. 5 with the spinning all-rounders following them.

They lost Sharma and Kohli over 180 Tests and 13,500 runs between the pair of them just before the away series of England but the team hasn't really missed them over the course of the last six games.

Gill, the new captain, has made a mountain of runs at No. 4 and that has certainly helped as its such a crucial position.

With a noticeable uptick in Rahul's batting fortunes (an average of 42.29 since 2024; a jump of 6.3 runs per innings on his lifetime average), the jigsaw is falling into place.