A multiple-choice problem

India will look to tick the right all-round combination box when they face Sri Lanka at the Gabba

Pitched short of length,Dan Christians delivery kept lower than expected and cheated Ravindra Jadeja into missing a punch off the backfoot. The ball missed Jadejas blade,before nearly clipping his off-stump. Jadeja observed his bat,looked at the stumps,and sighed.

Had the delivery dismissed Jadeja at that point,Indias primary all-rounder for the Brisbane game R Ashwin had been rotated out would have been involved in the entire match for a sum total of three balls. Eight,if you count his fielding efforts in the inner circle. A near run-out of Matthew Wade at the non-strikers end was the closest he got to effecting a dismissal on the field,for Jadejas bowling arm wasnt utilised by Mahendra Singh Dhoni at all.

Jadeja didnt know it then,but it was the very man,who survived the run-out chance,who ended up forcing Dhoni to keep the left-arm spinner out of the bowling innings. Wade,the Indian skipper said later,is left-handed. And against settled left-handers such as the Aussie keeper and Michael Hussey,using Jadeja made no sense to the Indian think-tank.

Although Jadeja probably played the stroke of the day when he drove Christian crisply on the rise and pierced the heavy off-side field,the shot made as little difference to the game as Irfan Pathans stunning six against Mitchell Starc. The two Indian all-rounders notched the best carpet and aerial boundaries hit in the evening during their innings of 18 and 19 respectively,but in the context of the match,their contributions with the bat were far from relevant.

Not so much the lack of a quality all-rounder,it was,in fact,Dhonis inability to choose the best ones for the weekend clash that was the primary reason for Indias worst defeat in the tri-series.

On Sunday,as Dhoni failed to utilise his options,the Australians werent complaining,considering in their previous game they had suffered a humiliating loss due to three Sri Lankan bowling all-rounders Man of the Match Thisara Perera,man of the moment Ferveez Maharoof and man of this tour Angelo Mathews.

Each of them provided crucial breakthroughs in Sydney as Sri Lanka dismissed the hosts for their lowest score. It made captain Mahela Jayawardene say: Brilliant. These are young all-rounders coming through,and each of them believe that they belong here. The energy they bring to the team is fantastic.

Story continues below this ad

In all probability,Maharoof,Mathews and Perera will feature in Tuesdays fixture Jayawardene has said it in as many words that it makes no sense to change a winning combination. As for the Indian camp,the rotation policies with their batsman,bowlers and all-rounders has ensured that Dhoni amp; Co. have everybody guessing on the team combination.

Lankans have the edge

Either way,regardless of the two picked on Tuesday afternoon,the result of the forthcoming India-Sri Lanka tie is likely to hinge on the team with the better set of all-round performances. Yet,by just flicking through the comparative all-round statistics so far,India have plenty to learn from their Asian counterparts.

Consider this. Perera,Mathews and Maharoof have 12 wickets among them,in a total of eight innings. In comparison,the Indian three have 10 wickets in 11 innings. With the bat,Mathews averages 57 this series. Jadeja averages 19 with the bat,and 190 with the ball. Mathews has been great. But Im also a big fan of Maharoofs all-round skills. And Perera is a fast-bowling allrounder who can field at any position, Jayawardene said. For his opposite number,the challenge in the series will be to pick the right set of all-rounders for the right set of games.

If need be, said Dhoni when asked if Jadeja may not play against a southpaw-heavy Aussie batting line-up the next time around. It probably makes sense. More sense than not playing the best off-spinner in Indias ranks,not bowling the second best one and watching silently as the fast bowling all-rounder compensates by trading his off-cutters for Muralitharan inspired off-breaks by the end of his spell.

Live on Star Cricket: 8:50am