India bank on horses for courses

Cricketing wisdom suggests a side enjoying a 17-Test unbeaten streak will have settled batting and bowling units with little need to change and chop team sheets.

But India have gone 27 Tests without retaining the same players for consecutive games, mainly a result of untimely injuries but also due to prevailing conditions or the need to manage workloads.

It happened again for the fifth and final Test against England which opened in Chennai on Friday when having clinched the series 3-0, the hosts dropped promising all-rounder Jayant Yadav and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

It was made known that Jayant, who hit a maiden Test century in the previous match in Mumbai, had suffered a minor hamstring niggle and was rested as a precautionary measure ahead of the team's busy schedule.

India have a 25-day break after the Chennai Test before they take on England in three one-day and three Twenty20 internationals January 15. This will be followed by a one-off Test against Bangladesh and four Tests against Australia.

Kumar, who replaced the injured Mohammad Shami in Mumbai, was discarded after just one match where he went wicketless in the first innings and took 1-11 in the second innings.

Lanky fast bowler Ishant Sharma came in for Kumar for his first appearance in the series, while leg-spinner Amit Mishra took over the third spinner's role from Jayant.

Ishant had missed the entire home series against New Zealand in October due to illness and was benched for the first three Tests against England before being released from the Mumbai Test for his wedding last week.

The 73-Test veteran marked his return with a inspired opening spell where he had Keaton Jennings caught behind in his third over. His first eight overs cost just seven runs.

Mishra, who played in the drawn first Test in Rajkot before being dropped in favour of Jayant, had a less favourable outing, conceding 52 runs in 13 wicketless overs.

The only time Mishra came close to taking a wicket was when he hit Moeen Ali on the front pad, but a DRS review by skipper Virat Kohli after the umpire turned down an lbw appeal went in favour of the batsman.

Moeen, then on 83, went on to return unbeaten on 120 as England closed the opening day on a commanding 4-284, having made good use of an easy-paced pitch after Alastair Cook won his fourth toss in the series.

Moeen made India pay for a missed chance before he had scored as Lokesh Rahul failed to grasp an overhead catch at mid-wicket when the batsmen on-drove Ravindra Jadeja.

India's fielding coach R. Sridhar admitted the series win had camouflaged the team's poor catching that had let England off the hook several times.

"Our catching has not been up to scratch in this series," Sridhar said.

"We set high standards in the last couple of years but things have not gone our way in this series.

"In Rahul's case, the ball went through the fingers over his head. Maybe he could have timed the jump better. But these things happen in cricket.

"Catching is a work in progress. There have also been some injuries and we have been forced to change personnel, especially in the close-in cordon all the time. It's not an excuse but we have to manage workloads."

The last time India fielded the same line-up was during the tour of England two years ago when after the drawn first Test in Nottingham, the tourists won the second Test at Lord's.

Kohli swears by the horses-for-courses policy, insisting his players had accepted the constant reshuffling as a part of the game.

"We are going to play people that we think are suitable for different venues," Kohli said earlier in the series

"The players have been pretty good with it and that's why when you see someone stepping in for a game or two, they take it as an opportunity and have actually given match-winning performances.

"It's all about focusing on that particular game and staying in the present and it has been really wonderful to see it and we just want to carry that forward."

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