A window of opportunity

It won8217;t be a bad time for Rahane to make his debut. India are 3-0 up,for one. And with Dhawan8217;s blistering 187 in Mohali and Murali Vijay8217;s consecutive 150-plus scores pretty much sealing their places in the Test eleven for now,Rahane will know that the Delhi Test will present a long enough window,were he to score runs,to strengthen his position as first reserve,and,at the same time,too short a strand of rope,were he to fail,for the selectors to lose faith in him.

Starc to return

Australia8217;s list of injured players is a little more worrying than India8217;s,particularly considering the series scoreline. Mitchell Starc was perhaps their best performer in Mohali,and his contributions 99 and 35 with the bat and two crucial wickets with the second new ball nearly helped them escape with a draw. But in the fourth Test,Australia will be without the left-arm seamer,who has flown home for ankle surgery. Skipper Michael Clarke is also a doubtful starter,after suffering a recurrence of a long-term back problem during the Mohali Test.

With the 8216;Gang of Four8217; back in the squad,Australia have sufficient cover,numerically at least. They can replace Starc adequately enough with James Pattinson their most successful bowler in the first two Tests or Mitchell Johnson,a like-for-like substitute for Starc in terms of first name,style of bowling and lower-order batting ability.

But it will be ironic if Shane Watson who,as vice-captain,was perhaps the biggest offender in not turning in his coach8217;s assignment leads them out in Clarke8217;s absence. Having been made an example of for what you cannot do as an Australia player in the Clarke-Arthur regime having had his team ethic questioned Pat Howard,Cricket Australia8217;s high performance manager,said that he 8220;acts in the best interests of the team,8217;sometimes'8221; and having stated that he was contemplating his future in the game,Watson suddenly finds himself on the verge,possibly,of leading Australia.

If this scenario does play out,it will put under scrutiny the extent of his re-integration into the squad,the state of his relationship with Arthur and,most pertinently,his own form as a Test cricketer. Since Clarke took over as captain in 2011,Watson has averaged 26.46 with the bat in 14 Tests. Playing as a specialist batsman,are his numbers good enough to warrant the captain8217;s armband? Does he merit a place in Australia8217;s top order?

It8217;s hard to answer the first question. It isn8217;t the ideal scenario,for sure. If bowlers came into contention like they should,Peter Siddle is probably the best man to take over in Clarke8217;s absence,as a senior player,as a first-choice selection,and as someone who has repeatedly shown the ability to lead and inspire,in the toughest circumstances,with ball in hand. But this isn8217;t going to happen.

The answer to the second question,in the current climate of Australian batting,has to be 8216;yes8217;. Watson walks back into the top order. Usman Khawaja might also find a place,ahead of either Phil Hughes whose second-innings half-century in Mohali didn8217;t quite suggest he had gotten over his worries against the spinners or perhaps Moises Henriques,if they were looking at bringing in a specialist for an all-rounder.

But whatever its composition,the Australian top order looks distinctly wobbly without Clarke in it. But teams have,in the past,lifted themselves in the absence of their biggest name. During Brian Lara8217;s career,he often waged solitary resistance in the middle of batting collapses. But the West Indies won only 24.62 per cent of the 130 Tests Lara played for them and,as a team,scored 29.70 runs per wicket,compared to a win percentage of 37.04 and a batting average of 31.29 in the 27 Tests Lara missed during his career. It8217;s hard to explain,and ignores factors such as conditions and opposition,but the West Indies seemed to do better without Lara. Were Clarke to miss the Delhi Test,India will have to be wary of this phenomenon afflicting their opponents.