The Pink Test: Players under the Spotlight

After registering a remarkable comeback in the Boxing Day test match at Melbourne, India will look forward to keeping the momentum going in the upcoming New Year’s Test at Sydney.

Traditionally, we have seen a pile of runs scored at SCG, making the test more exciting as the probability for a full 5-day cricket gets raised to a greater extent. We saw India scoring over 600 runs in the first innings the last time they played here, making sure that the Border Gavaskar Trophy was won by the men in blue – for the first time on Australian soil.

Coming into this test match, some players are under the spotlight, including those expected to play their first match of the test series.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Indian fans are relieved that the Indian bowlers, particularly Ravichandran Ashwin, have been able to neutralize Steven Smith. But even Pujara, who is expected to play big innings, is having a woeful run in this series. In the overseas tours of West Indies and New Zealand, Pujara has a solitary fifty in 12 innings. That makes for rather a serious introspection.

The no.3 batsman was the chief architect for India behind their historic series win in Australia during the 2018/19 series. Since then, apart from a couple of home series, Pujara has been unable to convert the starts into big ones. 

He is known for using his soft hands because of which even if edges were induced, it did not carry to the slip fielders. But suddenly, those edges are getting carried, probably because there has been a lot more tentativeness in his stroke play.

With the Pink Test to come, a big inning is expected from him which could put India in the driver’s seat.

Rohit Sharma

If there is any batsman after VVS Laxman, who has been lethal against Australia then it is Rohit Sharma. 

He started his test career batting down the order, but in the 2019 home season which saw Bangladesh and South Africa in action, the Mumbai Indians captain was given the opener’s slot. It suited him well as he rose to the expectations by reaching the triple figures thrice, including a double hundred.

Since then, injuries saw him out of the New Zealand tour, and another towards the end of IPL made him sit out of the limited-overs series and a couple of test matches in Australia. He is all set to make a comeback to Test cricket after a year or so, and with the backdrop of news surrounding the bio-bubble breach, the spotlight is on him to perform and silence the critics.

The 3rd Indian Pacer

With a calf injury ruling Umesh Yadav out of the ongoing series, the management must pick one of the young trio comprising Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan. It is a difficult choice because all three can make something happen with the ball. 

While Thakur can swing the ball, Saini is more of a hit the deck bowler. With the Brisbane Test to follow, we may see Saini making the playing XI. The variation provided by the left-arm angle of T Natarajan also cannot be ignored.

The Pink Test at the SCG can be very decisive in the context of the Border-Gavaskar series. If India can get a win, then they have both hands on the coveted trophy. And in case the hosts go 2-1 up, India has to create history at the bouncy Gabba where they have never registered a victory in test matches.