Mumbai: With India tottering at 144/6 when R Ashwin walked into bat in the first innings, there was work to be done to put the side into a strong position, a Test match had to be won, but, at the back of his mind, he knew it was also an opportunity for him to strengthen his case for playing in the prestigious Border Gavaskar Trophy. To his credit, he made it count with a brilliant 113.

For champion players the adrenaline rush comes from pitting your wits against the best in the most challenging of conditions. Playing Australia in Australia remains a formidable challenge. In any other side, having a record like Ashwin’s – 500 plus wickets in 100 Tests -- would mean a place in the playing XI on every ground.

Ideally both, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin, should be in the playing XI – after their all-round heroics in the Chennai Test against Bangladesh – they are the No 1 and No 2 Test all-rounders in the ICC World Rankings. Ashwin was the man of the match for his hundred and six-wicket haul while Jadeja was not far behind with an 86 and crucial wickets in the first innings.

The competition for places in the India team, however, is something else. When playing outside the subcontinent, there’s generally only one spot for a spinner. Ashwin is in that unenviable position where most of the time he is competing directly against a player of the quality of Ravindra Jadeja, who excels in all three departments, being a brilliant fielder too.

But given the rise in his batting numbers, Ashwin will come into the allrounder scheme of things too. However, for a tour of Australia, he will compete against not only Jadeja but also against the pace allrounders – Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube and the young Nitish Kumar Reddy. The pacers aren’t the best in the business but so much of cricket is playing the conditions and by that yardstick, they are the perfect fit.

When fully-fit, Jadeja has been the preferred option overseas. Even in the last Test between India and Australia, at the In the World Test Championship final played at London’s Kensington Oval, it was the left-arm spinner who played while Ashwin warmed the bench. But has the gap between Ashwin and Jadeja lessened? Will India think Ashwin ahead of Jadeja? Or will they perhaps think of playing them both?

When playing Down Under, the role of a pace bowling all-rounder is usually key, especially given the conditions expected at Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne, where there will be extra pace and bounce.

Former India pace bowler, Karsan Ghavri, who has played 12 out of his 39 Tests against Australia, including the 1977-78 and 1980-81 series Down Under, said: “We should have one spin all-rounder and one pace all-rounder, that will be ideal, and then rest of the bowling attack.”

For all the gains that India had from their season opener last week, that’s one box they didn’t tick. India’s talent pool in this department is limited. The selectors do have a task on hand to pick the right pace bowler who can bat.

Hardik Pandya is the best option but he is reluctant to play red ball cricket. Recently, he has been posting videos of bowling with the red ball but whether he decides to play the early rounds of the Ranji Trophy remains to be seen.

The selectors were hoping to unearth someone from the Duleep Trophy. Andhra’s Reddy is one of the exciting prospects. A good Duleep Trophy would have got the 21-year-old into contention. However, in the three Duleep matches, he picked only one wicket.

Dube can be an outside bet but his bowling isn’t quite Test standard yet. If truly desperate, the selectors could look towards him.

Even if they don’t have a world-class pace bowler who can bat, the selectors would have to look for other options. India’s best bet for the role remains Thakur. All eyes will be on whether he gets to full bowling fitness ahead of the tour. Recovering from a foot surgery done in June, it is learnt that he has started to bowl at the National Cricket Academy.

In India’s most famous win in Australia, Brisbane, in 2020-21 series, Shardul proved his value. Having an uncanny knack of picking wickets, he proved his effectiveness on Australian pitches. Playing his first game of the series after the side was left severely depleted by a spate of injuries, Shardul lifted his game with both ball and the bat. He picked three wickets in the first innings and four in the second. In two Tests against Australia, he has scored two half-centuries under pressure, 67 at the Gabba and 51 in the 2023 WTC final at the Kennington Oval, London.

Shardul lost his place in the playing XI after the first Test in South Africa, in December, 2023, but has got back in contention with a series of good performances in the Ranji Trophy on return. In the final played earlier this year, he was Mumbai’s top-scorer of the first innings, scoring 75 off 69 balls at No 8, to lift the total to 224 after being 111/6. In the semifinal, he was the player of the match, smashing 109 at No 9 to help Mumbai recover from 106/7 to 378. It’s his ability to handle the pressure.

For the opening Test which is to be played in Perth, Ghavri said India can go in with four pacers and one spinner but other venues they can look to play two spinners. “There is so much of bounce at Perth, you need a strong pace attack. But the other venues are different, they can decide to play two spinners and three fast bowlers also. This series we are going to play five Tests, bowling in Australia is going to be demanding.”

There’s still question mark over the pace all-rounder’s option but with Ashwin and Jadeja both in brilliant form, one thing is certain India won’t be short of options in Australia.

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