‘You cannot have a cushion for batting order, need specialists’

Salil Ankola

An aspect which has caught the attention of Indian team on their ongoing tour of Australia has been the frequent changes in the playing XI of their matches so far.
Be it the batting order change or having more all-rounders in playing XI, thus increasing load of main bowlers and inability to take 20 wickets, India's playing XI compositions on this Australia tour has been the topic of endless discussions.

Salil Ankola, who served as member of India men's team selection committee, believes one can't have a cushion for a batting order in Tests, citing the longer format being more suitable for specialist players.

"Tests, ODIs and T20Is are different formats of the game. Like, there's a saying in English, horses for courses. When you're selecting teams for a Test match, you have to have specialists in the side - like the bowlers who are going to give you wickets, and the batters who are going to score runs.

"But if you're going to keep on selecting players and thinking about getting a cushion for the batting order - like, you cannot have a cushion for batting. You have people who are supposed to score runs, and take wickets," said Ankola.

"It was surprising to see the team for the last match we played. There were [Ravindra] Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy - three all-rounders. The composition also makes you wonder like it is only for the cushion of the batting, so that we can get some runs," Ankola added.

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