Anticipated shuffle, of Rohit and Gill, Padikkal and Jurel

Canberra: Sometimes someone else’s misfortune becomes your luck. Sometimes you wait for years but don’t represent your country — you are good enough but the chance never comes. But sometimes the stars align without putting you through the wringer — you are handed the India cap and told to go have a bat or a ball or both. India’s Rohit Sharma (AFP)

At Perth, we saw all of the above happen. Shubman Gill’s thumb injury and Rohit Sharma’s absence (due to the birth of his child) opened the door for Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel while injuries and indifferent form saw Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy get the nod ahead of other experienced pros.

But such is the game that ahead of Adelaide, a couple of them might need to call upon Lady Luck again. If they hope to play again.

Rohit is back and will almost certainly slot back into the XI. Gill has been working out but still looks a little ginger. His performance, if he does indeed play the tour game, will be closely monitored. But if fit, he too will be a certainty.

From a pure technique perspective, KL Rahul looked so at home against the new ball in Perth that there will be a temptation to have him perhaps bat higher up the order in Adelaide as well.

Depending on what time of the day India bat during the day/night Test (starting on December 6), the ball could be doing a lot and there will at least be some in the team management who will think Rahul should continue to open or at least bat at No.3.

And the two-day tour game (the day-night game starts on Saturday) becomes interesting from that perspective. There are some who go out and some who slot in but it is never an equal switch. Like that catch Jurel took to send back Starc — the ball was almost behind him but he showed lightning quick reflexes honed by years behind the stumps. It was the kind of catch that stays with you. It was the kind of catch that wicket-keepers take. Could Rohit or Gill do the same?

They could do different things better but not quite the same. In the same vein, there will be pressure on those coming in to show that the time away hasn’t made them rusty.

The absence of coach Gautam Gambhir may not mean much except in terms of last-minute tweaks and that is where Washington Sundar comes in.

The young allrounder did everything asked of him at Perth but depending on the kind of wicket that is rolled out at Adelaide, the team may decide to go with either R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja. Each of them poses a very different challenge and they can all bat. If nothing else, it will serve to keep the Aussies guessing and Ashwin versus Smith is always an interesting battle.

The Indian team opted for batting depth in the first Test and it proved to be vital. The 41 runs made by Reddy in the first innings gave the team just enough breathing room when something lower might have led to desperation. And that is why things are unlikely to change on that front.

Speaking on Fox Cricket, Ravi Shastri spoke about how the Aussies will come hard at the Indians. They always do. It happened in 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2022/23. So, India will expect some blowback, and from that perspective the tour game is vital to keep the momentum going.

They need to calm the nerves, forget Perth and start anew in Adelaide. The squad, by almost every yardstick, will be finetuned and strengthened but the tour is just beginning and India still have a long way to go.

In other news, the Indian team will meet the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

Boland in Australia PM’s XI

Australia pacer Scott Boland will be the most experienced member of the PM’s XI.

“We are utilising the opportunity to maintain Scott Boland’s match fitness in his preparations as part of the Test squad,” said selection committee chief George Bailey.

“We thank the Prime Minister for his input into the squad which sees some of the country’s most exciting young cricketers mixed with some highly experienced players.”

The team will also include last year’s under-19 World Cup winners Sam Konstas, Mahli Beardman, Charlie Anderson and Aidan O’Connor.

Former Test opener Matthew Renshaw was selected having been left out of the Australia A matches while emerging middle-order batter Ollie Davies was also included.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins has said that there might not be too many changes for the second Test but a good show could make the selectors want to change things up.

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