Rotate the Pacers?
While picking the spinning combination is one part of the selection headache, keeping the pace battery fit and firing through the year will be on the minds of the Indian think tank too.
Ishant Sharma has only just returned from a long layoff and Jasprit Bumrah had quite a bit to do in the first Test, while Mohammed Siraj sat it out. None of Mohammed Shami or Umesh Yadav are available for the Test series and T Natarajan has been relieved of domestic duties for the limited overs leg of England’s tour of India.
Siraj is not alien to the long spells on Indian conditions is in excellent form after a fantastic tour of Australia where he eventually led the attack in his third Test match in Brisbane. Another strength is his natural ability to swing the ball – after the way James Anderson found reverse swing very easily in the first Test, the Indian management is unlikely to ignore this factor.
Would it be harsh on Ishant? Probably. Does Bumrah need a rest? He had to sit…