India vs South Africa, 1st Test: How Shubman Gill’s side thrives with all-rounders, squad flexibility

On Friday, Shubman Gill threw the ball to Axar Patel in the eighth over. Then he could have summoned either Ravindra Jadeja or Washington Sundar. All three could handle the new ball. Gill entrusted the duties to Axar because he gets more skid than the others with the new ball. He has the deadliest straight ball among them, too. Then none would have argued against Washington, who could generate bounce with his over-spun emphasis. At times, the new ball could hold its line rather than break into the right-hander, a natural variation of sorts. With inconsistent bounce in play, Washington’s height and high release points could have amplified the bounce-disparity. Jadeja is no stranger to the new ball either. The flexibility they offer is truly mind-spinning.

The flip side is that one of them tends to be under-bowled, especially when India had a fourth spinner in Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm wrist-spinner bowled 14 overs, reducing the rest to bit parts. The biggest casualty was Washington, who bowled only one over. But had South Africa had a left-heavy batting order (only Ryan Rickleton and Tony de Zorzi are southpawed), Washington would have put on a lengthier shift. Axar got six and Jadeja eight. But no one fusses or frets. A space and time would come for Gill to pull out every card of his. The sheer assurance that he has six bowlers, each a specialist, would embolden him. He might not need all six on a given day. But he has the comfort.

Similarly, all three could slot anywhere into the batting hierarchy. Washington trudged to bat at No. 3, and he showed his bearing to be one too. The defence is sturdy, the judgment outside the off-stump immaculate. Jadeja would not have resembled a fish out of water had he batted at one drop. His average has been steadily leaping in the last five years, rising from a modest 30 to an impressive 38. He has an impregnable defensive technique against the spinners, he can lay siege for hours or knock the daylights out of them. Axar has been India’s saviour on turners. His effervescence contributed manfully to India toppling Australia in the 2023 series. The team management could simply pick and choose. Like in the mid-80s to 90s, India was stacked with medium-pace all-rounders. Kapil Dev was obviously the totem, but there were those like Manoj Prabhakar who regularly opened the bowling and batting towards the back-end of his career. But India seldom possessed such spin-bowling all-rounder splendour.

They probably never had two high-class wicketkeeper-batters (or batter-wicketkeepers) like Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant. Both are robust behind the stumps, and both could keep their spot in the eleven as pure batters too. Between the games, they could swap the gloves, or they could take turns by innings. Pant in the first and Jurel in the second perhaps, so that neither is overburdened, or one for spinners and the other for seamers. Few captains of India would have owned a more malleable, flexible squad than Gill. If he could discover two seam-bowling all-rounders, he could field a perfect eleven, the closest it could get to total cricket, a neverland where everybody does everything.