The new number four for India in Tests would neither hear the cracking applause when he strides out nor the numbing silence when he retreats to the dressing room. Or to the scale associated with two immediate predecessors, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kolhi. Instead, he could feel the squeezing weight of history and heritage, the burden of 25,151 runs, 51 hundreds, 36 years, the halo and honour, records and responsibility of the inheritance.
The natural heir is Shubman Gill, the most promising of the youth brigade, a prospective captain and touted as a future great. He fits the profile—a splendid stroke-maker, stoked in the classical ethos yet with a post-modern outlook, with a game that he could bend to suit diverse conditions, a blossoming superstar, a composed presence, a smiling, handsome face that has begun adorning advertisement hoardings, and non-controversial off the field.
However, him occupying the most sacred post in India’s batting line-up comes at the inevitable expense of a rejig and the consequent headaches.
Gill has just grooved into the one-drop role—an important slot in itself, where the greats Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting logged in— especially with a potentially new/makeshift/stopgap opening pair. Now, the team management would have to discover a new number three as well. The options are thin in this facet too. KL Rahul has the required characteristics to blossom as long-term mainstay, but he could be repurposed as an opener. Abhimanyu Easwaran, should he be picked, is still waiting for his Test cap. So is Sai Sudharsan. Rajat Patidar has been tried and tested, but failed, besides nursing an injury.
But if Gill sticks to three, admittedly his favourite spot, he would leave the management fretting to fill up the Kohli space. Rahul’s name springs to mind. He has batted everywhere in the top six, sort of India’s emergency code, barring number five. When Kolhi skipped England’s tour to India last year, he was handed over the keys to the coveted spot. He looked the part and scored 84 and 22 in the first Test before an injury ruled him out for the remaining series, a recurring theme of his start-stop 58-Tests-old career.
But India need to fill the Rohit Sharma-shaped hole at the top too, and Rahul could be persuaded to fill in the openers’ shift. The circumstances are different to when Kohli eased into Tendulkar’s shoes. Back then, India could pick any of three—Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane—to bat anywhere from three to six. The trio has turned up in most positions as well, and were sufficiently experienced. Not to forget Rohit Sharma knocking on the selectors’ doors too.