If you think abt it
@BVC. We have the Top 4 batters of the series and we have Bumrah. That's 5 gold players. Then you have Jaiswal, who is allowed to fail.
And we need to accept we do not have a one-down-WALL for now. That needs to be given time to be curated
The rest 4 slots and yet-to-come-of-age captaincy is the reason I believe. (Though Sundar can be a revelation, I believe)
Do you think Sundar and Jurel/Karun to complete the top 8 should from the first match instead of a 4th pacer (LORD mainly), should have made a difference?
Like
Rahul
Jaiswal
Sai
Gill
Pant
Karun/Jurel
Jaddu
Washi
Prasidh/Akash
Siraj
Jassi
Now that Pant is injured, why not go with Jurel and Karun both?
I know it is to not over burden Jassi. But our spinners are world class. They thrive on pressures. Trust them is the one thing I need to say.
Test cricket is a game of specialists. Kohlis devils were bloody good, because it had specialists and a diamond all rounder.
Now we are looking for all rounders to the core.
Look at how AUS and ENG are farding. They have either Specialist batsman who can bowl like Root, Labuschagne, even Smith and Brooke, and Specialist bowlers who can bat like Starc, Cummins, and even Archer.
We are hell bent on creating owe own Ben Stokes or even Test version of Pandya - by trying out NK Reddy, Lord Thakur and all. Wasting slots.
Test matches can be won by specialists and not all rounders. Because the latters will be tired. Look at the case of Stokes.
If it's a spin friendly pitch like in the subject-continent we can load up our bowling all-rounder trip of Jaddu, Washi and Axar bhai.
That will be not the case in SENA where you need Specialist Fast bowlers and Specialist batsman who can ward off swing and pace.
That is what I feel.