India vs England, 3rd Test: Parthiv Patel in place of Wriddhiman Saha — justified?

The Indian Test side has remained unbeaten under Virat Kohli at home till now. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction. A draw in the first and an emphatic victory in the second in the 5-Test series against England had put the hosts in the driver’s seat. Kohli played two excellent innings, Cheteshwar Pujara got his regulation hundred, and Ravichandran Ashwin was at his usual best to leave the visitors reeling for a 246-run defeat. Just all seemed well for the third Test in Mohali, Kohli and India faced a major jolt as as a strained thigh sidelined India’s No. 1 wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. The selectors drafted in baby-faced veteran Parthiv Patel as replacement. How justified is the decision? Paulami Chakraborty writes.

The Saha-Kohli combination

Almost no captain tries to change his winning combination. India have remained unbeaten in all home Tests that had Kohli as the skipper. Saha has been around as a replacement of MS Dhoni ever since the latter announced his retirement in Tests. When Saha was injured, Naman Ojha was drafted in as the obvious replacement. There was no eyebrow raised, for Naman has been a giant for Madhya Pradesh over years. Not only Kohli, the close-in fielders have grown comfortable with Saha as the pivot, which is more crucial than it meets the eye. Interestingly, none of the players in the current Test squad have played with Parthiv in Test cricket, which will probably put them in an unaccustomed place. With 2 Tests done and 3 to go, it is a crucial point where India will definitely want to maintain their lead in the series, not letting the touring party get a share of success in the subcontinent. READ: India vs England, 3rd Test: Parthiv Patel to replace Wriddhiman Saha

Saha is not only a skilled wicketkeeper who is getting better and better with every passing day, but also a more than competent batsman down the order. His presence has allowed Kohli to go in with a five-bowler combination. Needless to say, replacing someone like him will not be a cakewalk for Parthiv, who is about to make a comeback to the national Test side after 8 years. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs England 3rd Test at Mohali

Parthiv’s last appearance

It was back in 2008 as India under Anil Kumble were in Sri Lanka for a three-Test series. India had gone into the series without MS Dhoni, and had included Dinesh Karthik for the first 2 Tests and Parthiv for the third (with the series levelled 1-1). He scored 13 and 1, and there was nothing with his glovework that stood out. But then, that was another era: Dhoni’s entire tenure as full-time captain has passed since then.

Upon recall

Parthiv leads Gujarat. Make no mistake, he has been more than competent at that role. He has been excellent in the current season of the Ranji Trophy with bat, with 415 runs in the tournament so far. He has kept wickets, and as mentioned before, led Gujarat with proficiency.

Among his recent performances, the one against Madhya Pradesh needs a special mention, where Parthiv scored 49 and 139 not out to draw the match.

Competitors for recall:

Is there a scarcity of good wicketkeeper-batsmen in India in the post-Dhoni era? That is a question often asked by fans. Interestingly, Saha, Parthiv, and Naman, arguably the three forerunners for the post, are all roughly of the same age, which means that the next batch has not really shaped up enough to compete with the trio.

The numbers tell a different tale. Leading the table of highest run-getters in the domestic tournament as of November 23, 2016 is Delhi’s young Rishabh Pant with 874 runs, which includes a triple-hundred and the fastest hundred by an Indian. Pant makes for a potent option for an injured Saha for many reasons, among which one is his performance for the India Under-19 team as a wicketkeeper-batsmen, who were the runners up of the competition.

One may tick him off for the lack of experience (though Parthiv had played at roughly the same age), but Karthik, who has represented India earlier, was another option: he has more runs (574) than Pathiv. And then, there is CM Gautam, one of the finest in business behind stumps.

The explanation

ESPNCricinfo ran a report immediately after the announcement. They quoted an unnamed BCCI official: “Parthiv was considered going by form and also the wicketkeeping aspect. More importantly, being a left-hand bat England have a leg-spinner and a left-arm spinner in Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari. So, a left-hander will add more to the team.”

That does not really hold good, given how the England left-hand trio of Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes have handled the off-spinner of Ashwin in this series. The concept of left-handers doing well against leg-spin and left-arm spin and not so much against off-spin (the reverse for right-handers) is probably outdated. And then, Pant bats left-handed as well.

The same source also mentioned “Naman had some injuries; he didn’t play in the first three-four matches of the Ranji Trophy this year.” As things stand now, Naman is playing Railways at Kotla and has scored a fifty after keeping wickets.

What does the Indian team want?

But is it about finding a batsman? A glimpse of India’s recent scorecards does not say the same. True, India are going in with five batsmen, but the bowlers Ashwin and Jayant (or Mishra) have stepped up. To draft in the best batsman is fine (though that hardly explains why Parthiv got the nod over Pant), but is Parthiv the best gloveman around?

Are India looking to take wickets, putting the series out of England’s reach with a win at Mohali? If yes, did they pick the best wicketkeeper in the country in order to ensure those 20 wickets? Fans and critics will eagerly wait to scrutinise Parthiv the moment he takes up the wicketkeeping gloves at Mohali.

What do the experts say?

Kiran More, former India wicketkeeper, is all for the selectors’ decision to replace Saha with Parthiv: “It is definitely his Ranji Trophy performance,” said More on the parameter of selection. “It is his current form and what he has done in the last two years that has earned him the place. His techniques are good enough to get him into the team itself.” He added that Saha is doing very well, he added that Pant is definitely a very good option but not as good as Parthiv.

Deep Dasgupta pointed out some interesting facts: “Parthiv has been performing consistently for five-six years. The team is looking for a good wicketkeeper-batsman, so we can’t just look into the batting numbers. If we go by the numbers, obviously the biggest question will be ‘why not Rishabh Pant?’. To answer that, India need an experienced pair of gloves behind the stumps. From the scorecard, we only get to know how many runs a batsman has scored. But if the selectors have taken a call after watching him play, I think we should respect that. The selectors are out there and watching every game.

“You cannot rush someone in. There is a system, there is KL Rahul who also keeps occasionally. Parthiv, who is a left-hander, will be an interesting option as he can play anywhere in the top six. Having a left-hander in the middle-order will also help India play against Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari.”

(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)