The purpose of India's tour to Sri Lanka should not be based on the scoreline
Shikhar Dhawan during nets at SSC yesterday. Pic/AFP
When you play a superior team, you try to raise your game to match their skills, and hopefully outshine them. But when you play a weaker team, you focus only on your skills and how to make the process as clinical as possible. You also try to raise the bar for yourself, for the purpose of walking out on the field is to become a better player and team.
Even in 2015, India were a much superior side, in spite of Sri Lanka staging a coup in Galle, and it reflected in the result too. India won the series 2-1 after losing the first Test. Since then, the paths of these two teams couldn't have been more different, for India have gone from strength to strength and Sri Lanka have only shown glimpses of getting back to its glory days. Therefore, the purpose of India's tour to Sri Lanka shouldn't only be searched in the scoreline (India winning the series is a foregone conclusion) but also, in areas that need attention/improvement.
Dhawan or Mukund?
Shikhar walked into this series as a last-minute replacement for Murali Vijay but walked out with the Man of the Match award in the first Test. His quickfire 190 set the tone of the Galle Test on the first day itself and showed why Kohli rates the southpaw highly. Interestingly, Dhawan had scored a fine century at the same venue two years ago. Even though India didn't tour overseas (a tour to SL and West Indies doesn't really qualify as an overseas assignment anymore), Dhawan lost his place in the Test side since then. His career provides an interesting case study. His consistent ODI numbers get him a place in the T20 team, his poor Test and T20 returns put his ODI place in jeopardy and then his good ODI form lands him in the team playing in whites. Rinse-repeat.
A delicious sub-plot
Once again, his knock at Galle has presented a delicious sub-plot to an otherwise lopsided series — what should be India's opening combination? Mukund was picked ahead of Dhawan in the squad and has also scored runs in the second innings. One must also appreciate his presence close to the bat as a fielder, for the search for a solid close-in fielder is perennially on. If Rahul is fit, which reportedly he is, one of the two left-handers might have to make way. The Indian team, under Kumble, followed a protocol of handing over the slot to its original owner if he went missing because of an injury. If the team, under Shastri, follows the same rule, Rahul will walk into the playing XI. But if that happens, who goes out?
Luxury of time
Whenever Dhawan scores, he scores at a fast clip and therefore, provides the team enough time to take 20 wickets. While the luxury of time is precious on flat tracks, does it matter so much in today's day and age where most Tests finish within four days? It'll be worth understanding the impact of a run-a-ball century over a more sedate Test ton on the outcome of a four-day Test. Since Dhawan has been around for a while, it's prudent to reassess if he's the man to open in overseas Tests, for they are in plenty starting 2018. While he has scored a Test ton in New Zealand, his returns elsewhere aren't very encouraging. On the other hand, Mukund hasn't got a long enough run to restart his Test career and if gets dumped again, he might not feature in the squad (let alone play in the XI) once Vijay returns.
The other thought could be to use the remaining two Tests of this series as an audition to finalise the third opener and that can happen if Rahul is told to cool his heels in spite of being fit and available for selection. These are early days in the Shastri-Kohli partnership and this decision will tell us a bit more about how both are likely to function in the future.
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