5 dilemmas for India ahead of first Test against Australia

India’s tour of Australia is going to officially kick start next Tuesday after the turmoil the cricketing fraternity has had to go through over the last week. It’s tough for the players to fight their emotions in the ultimate test of playing a Test match.As Rahul Dravid has said, the Indian squad is looking “well balanced and fresh” and they have to leave the horrors of the humiliating whitewash in Australia in 2011-12 behind them. India are considered to be slow starters as far as overseas tours are concerned. Starting the series in Adelaide might be a little advantageous as it is the venue where India have generally played well.Now, it's up to the captain and selectors to play an attacking eleven that can get through the heat and thunder down under. The team management face 5 dilemmas that could eventually become the key factors on which the outcome of the series will depend on:

#1 Openers

Shikhar Dhawan had a torrid time playing the new ball against the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in England. Murali Vijay somehow managed to get through the storm and was able to give India a solid start in the second Test, the only one India won in the series.

KL Rahul is a rookie who has done really well in the recent past in first-class cricket, pushing the selectors to get him into the Indian squad and is now fighting for a spot in the top-order by attempting to dethrone Dhawan from that spot. If Rahul gets a nod ahead of Dhawan, it will be two one-dimensional players which will play into the hands of the ever attacking Australians. The rookie needs some time to get used to the conditions before he gets a look in.

KL Rahul’s FC stats

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg	StrikeRate	50	100
Overall	27	44	2100	51.22	51.66	8	6
From Jan 2013	20	31	1650	56.9	51.31	6	5
From Jan 2014	8	12	728	66.18	56	2	3

Shikhar Dhawan’s Test stats

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg	Strike Rate	50	100
Overall	10	17	656	38.59	66.8	1	2
Home	3	3	243	81	102.96	0	1
Overseas	7	14	413	29.5	55.3	1	1

Murali Vijay’s Test stats

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg	Strike Rate	50	100
Overall	27	47	1706	36.3	44.93	6	4
In England	5	10	402	40.2	38.14	2	1

#2 Wicket-keeper

MS Dhoni, who has just joined the squad, should not be rushed into the team.

The clash of 2 first-class veterans, fighting for a spot as batsman-wicketkeeper. It's always a concern in Test cricket whether the batsman in a wicketkeeper should be given more importance or wicketkeeper in a batsman should be given priority.

In my opinion, Wriddhiman Saha is the best Indian wicketkeeper India at the moment. Yes, even ahead of Dhoni. Naman Ojha has reasonable claims having performed exceptional recently

Scoring a couple of double hundreds and a hundred in Australia during the A tour could help Ojha achieve his childhood dream of representing India in Tests. At the ages of 30 and 31, it’s a solid opportunity for one of these men to grab the opportunity if they get it.

Naman Ojha’s FC stats

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg	Strike Rate	50	100
Overall	103	178	7165	43.42	55.16	40	17
Last 10 FC	10	18	1466	97.73	63.85	1	8
In AUS for Ind A	2	3	430	430	84.15	0	3

Wriddhiman Saha’s FC stats

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg	Strike Rate	50	100
Overall	64	100	3710	44.7	47.13	22	8
Last 10 FC	10	17	690	49.29	48.25	6	1

#3 Extra batsman or all-rounder?

The gamble of playing 5 bowlers in foreign conditions seemed like one worth taking until we witnessed what happened during the horrific England tour. The experimentation with Stuart Binny and Ravindra Jadeja made the Indian batting lineup play with a long tail and the bowling side of things became less penetrative.

Rohit Sharma, who has looked like one of India’s best bets to handle the bouncing delivery, should get a look in. He will be pushed by the enthusiastic Suresh Raina who is undisputedly the best slip catcher India have got in the squad. Raina’s quick runs and useful off-breaks add to his value, but batting should be the priority.

#4 Spinner

There are three spinners in the squad who can claim their right to fit into the Indian team as the lone spinner - R Ashwin , Ravindra Jadeja and Karn Sharma. It’s up to the captain to either select a bowler who can also contribute with the bat or a wicket-taking spinner.

R Ashwin, who has a couple of Test hundreds, lets his batting stats do the talking. He is perhaps a better Test batsman than Jadeja, who is the only Indian player to have scored 2 triple centuries in a single first-class season. The right-hander, who started his career as an opener, possess the right technique to bat on the tough Australian pitches.

Anil Kumble is the leading wicket-taker for India in Australia since 1999 with 49 wickets in 8 matches with an average of 37.73 and strike-rate of 65.3. That should help Karn stake his claim being a legspinner. The SRH leggie can also contribute with the bat, but he is also a rookie who needs time to get adjusted to the alien conditions in Australia.

Spinners bowling performance outside Asia

	Matches	Innings	Wkts	Ave	Econ	Strike Rate
R Ashwin	6	9	12	64.5	3.1	122.7
R Jadeja	7	12	18	46.1	2.7	102.4

Spinners batting performance outside Asia

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Ave	Strike Rate
R Ashwin	6	12	287	31.8	76.7
R Jadeja	7	13	267	22.2	69.1

#5 Fast bowlers

India have an exciting pool of 5 fast bowlers. Varun Aaron can consistently bowl over 145 kph and Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami can consistently hit 140 kph. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can swing the ball both ways and every bowler has the right to claim for a spot in the lineup.

With Ishant Sharma being the most experienced of the lot, he should take up the responsibility of leading the attack. The bowler who bamboozled arguably the best Australian batsman Ricky Ponting in 2007 was in very good rhythm during India’s famous victory at Lord’s. He should be an automatic pick into the side.

There won’t be much of swing movement in Australian conditions comparing to that in England. It’s a place where hit-the-deck kind of bowlers can be way more handy than genuine swing bowlers which might discard Bhuvneshwar from the setup.

Aaron, in the recent past, has become a certain pick with his pace and attitude, but the concern is about his injury problems. Can he hold up in a 5-day game which requires full fitness? Umesh is a much-improved bowler with his pace and control and Shami is India’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs.

	Matches	Wkts	Strike Rate	Econ
I Sharma	58	178	65.8	3.4
B Kumar	11	28	59.3	3
M Shami	9	32	60	3.6
U Yadav	9	32	46.4	4.2
V Aaron	3	8	65.2	4.4