Through the backdoor: MS Dhoni reaches Adelaide without usual fanfare

Having said that, it’s unlikely that he will recover in time from his finger injury to captain the visitors in the first Test next week, which should mean Kohli will indeed lead the side at the Adelaide Oval. But the fact that Dhoni is making the journey Down Under prematurely is indicative of his keenness to get acclimatised in time for the second Test in Brisbane.

In that case the tour selection committee, which will include the captain himself, could well be left facing a puzzling quandary on who to leave out of the second Test. Does Dhoni come in to take his natural place behind the stumps reducing Wriddhiman Saha’s participation in the series to a solitary Test? Or will the team management take a gamble with playing the skipper as a pure batsman and leaving the wicketkeeping duties to Saha?

For starters, that decision might also have a lot to do with how much the diminutive Bengal gloveman makes of what will incidentally be his second Test in Adelaide, and his first anywhere since the last time he played here. And it is likely that Saha is a cynosure of sorts when the Indians take on a yet-to-be-named outfit on Thursday and Friday at Glenelg. Well, along with the top-order and the fast bowlers.

Falling behind

For the record, Saha had hung around manfully to guide Kohli to his maiden Test ton in the Australian summer of 2011-12. But he comes into the mix after Dhoni, who amassed 349 runs in England, had batted more assertively and scored more runs than ever before during a tour outside the subcontinent. India will certainly hope that their top-order doesn’t fold as haplessly as they did against James Anderson & Co. But Saha at No.7 will have to double up both in front and behind the stumps to make up for the captain’s absence.

While Dhoni was often the saviour of grace for India in England, his wicketkeeping was often found out, especially when he let go a number of catches. There was even talk about getting Dhoni to play as a pure batsman and get Saha in. Like in England, a majority of the wickets in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney will come from catches behind the wicket with the ball expected to repeatedly kiss the edge of the blade. And there’s a fair possibility that Dhoni will not be confident enough of risking his finger with the World Cup too around the corner. That could well open the doors for Saha to retain his place in the XI post Adelaide.

But if Dhoni plays, who will it be who makes way for him? Logically you would say Rohit Sharma, considering he played only one of the five Tests in England. But here’s a guy who just scored 264 in an ODI innings. Different format, different conditions, yes. With Ajinkya Rahane having outdone his Mumbai teammate in England, Rohit could be the fall guy, probably regardless of how he goes at the Oval.

It’s not too difficult to fathom why Australia is a sports-mad country. You look out of the airplane window as it takes off from Sydney and you spot close to two dozen cricket grounds, even if some of the shapes are more oblique than conventional, all with turf pitches. Just when you are letting them sink in, the flight descends upon the quaint city of Adelaide, and you spot two dozen more. With such an opulence of space, it would be surprising if they didn’t play as much sport as they do.

These are the sights that will welcome Dhoni to Australia in two days’ time. And even if it’s an unobtrusive arrival that awaits him, India will expect him to make his presence felt over the next month and a half.