New Delhi: It is the time of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy around and if you are an Indian men’s team supporter then optimism isn’t some value you would want to harbour over the course of next month-and-a-half. At a time when the boiling point is high with the recent humbling being served by the so-called nice guys from New Zealand, the ruptured Indian side feels the nerve to salvage their pride from sinking.
The troops have left for a familiar land, where they breached a fortress nearly four years ago. But this time they left without a commander, who is expected to marshal the troops in the middle of the war. The news of some members of the troop getting injured comes as a jarring dissonance for the believers who back the troop to the hilt regardless of their victory.
Yes, we talk about the Indian team’s ambitious of conquering the mighty Australians in their own backyard for the third time in a row. But with each day passing in the build up of the Test cricket extravaganza, the injury news of the players from core team only dents the spirit of the Indian team follower.
Maybe head coach Gautam Gambhir was caution of this and opted against holding an intra-squad match scheduled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But then the water is under the bridge with players facing blows even before the commencement of the series opener just before the commencement of the series. Media reports have suggested that Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan and Virat Kohli went through blows. The BCCI updated that Rahul is fit to play and Kohli and Sarfaraz were reported to have recovered from their respective injury concerns. Shubman Gill’s possible thumb injury is hanging by a thread.
Welcome to the Deja Vu! No it’s not Tim Paine asking Ashwin to visit the Gabba. It’s the same scenario being build where India lost most of their key players to the bench by the time the four-match series reached its peak last time in the 2020-21 period. Rohit Sharma, who was recently blessed with his second child, is said to miss the series-opener in Perth.
This is an inverse situation when Virat Kohli was expected to become father and decided to return back to India after the first Test in Adelaide. Indian team not sure of their captain’s presence and injury concerns grappling the heads of team management isn’t a strange scenario for India. Yes, the management is a new but some players have experienced this kind of turbulence in the previous tour to Australia. But then you don’t have demeanour personality of Ajinkya Rahane or the resolute of Cheteshwar Pujara this time around.
The plans should be chalked out for recovering players if they get injured in the midway of the series. Once the series gets underway in Perth on November 22, the prayers will amplify to keep the players fit with the hopes for a victory being the essence of it.
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