India vs England: Lack of experience among batters a major worry for Team India as they look to bounce back

India are 0-1 down in the five-match Test series against England, but more than that, the lack of experience in their batting lineup is going to be their bigger worry as Rohit Sharm and Co get ready for the second Test at Visakhapatnam starting on 2 February. Team India’s lack of experience in batting has been compounded by KL Rahul’s latest injury setback after former India captain Virat Kohli opted to pull out of first two Tests due to personal reasons.

Rahul, who played in the first Test at Hyderabad and scored 86 and 22, has been ruled out of the second Test due to pain in right quadriceps. This led to the Ajit Agarkar-led bringing in Sarfaraz Khan into the squad. Sarfaraz has been phenomenal in domestic ricket in recent years, especially in Ranji Trophy, but the 26-year-old has joined the senior national camp only for the first time.

IND vs ENG: Experts want Shubman Gill to open in Tests

It’s yet to be seen if he makes his debut at Visakhapatnam or not, but India have very few options as they decided not to pick Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane.

Another player in line to make his Test debut is Rajat Patidar. The 30-year-old from Madhya Pradesh was called in as a replacement for Kohli.

The biggest question in front of team management, however, is what batting combination they pick for the Visakhapatnam Test as Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer’s form has forced them into a corner of either picking out-of-form batters or rookie domestic cricket stars.

In any case India are set to have a batting lineup which will be very low on experience as they look to bounce back in the series.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are the only batters to have played more than 20 Tests, with India captain having featured in 55 matches. Three batters in the side — Sarfaraz, Rajat and Dhruv Jurel — are yet to make their debut.

Shreyas Iyer has only played 13 Tests while Yashasvi Jasiwal (5) and KS Bharat (6) are still to touch the 10-Test figure.

WATCH: Rajat Patidar opens up on earning India Test call-up

This is in sharp contrast to England who have a well settled batting unit who are rich in experience. They have all their first-choice batters available and a few of them are in top form including Ollie Pope who hit a match-winning hundred at Hyderabad.

The least experienced batter in England team from Hyderabad Test is Ben Duckett with 16 Tests. The Three Lions also possess batters like Joe Root who has close to 150 matches under his belt and Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, who are about to complete 100 Tests.

To put it more starkly, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KS Bharat put together have played just a few Tests more than Jonny Bairstow.

India batters experience in Tests:

Rohit Sharma: 55 Tests
Yashasvi Jaiswal – 5 Tests
Shubman Gill – 21 Tests
Shreyas Iyer – 13 Tests
KS Bharat – 6 Tests
Rajat Patidar: Yet to make the debut
Sarfaraz Khan: Yet to make the debut
Dhruv Jurel: Yet to make the debut

England batters experience in Tests:

Zak Crawley: 40 Tests
Ben Duckett: 16 Tests
Ollie Pope: 39 Tests
Joe Root: 136 Tests
Jonny Bairstow: 96 Tests
Ben Stokes: 98 Tests
Ben Foakes: 20 Tests