India will play four Tests in this home season against the West Indies and South Africa.
The two-match Test series between India and West Indies is slated to get underway on Thursday (October 2) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
On the eve of the game, India skipper Shubman Gill said they haven’t made any decision on the ‘workload management’ for the fast bowling unit, led by Jasprit Bumrah.
Apart playing West Indies, India will host South Africa for a couple of Test matches. The Proteas series also includes eight white-ball games.
Addressing the media, Gill made it clear that a decision will be made on a ‘match to match basis’.
“We are going to take a call on a match to match basis depending on how long a Test match goes and how many overs our fast bowlers bowl,” Gill told reporters.
During the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England earlier this year, the workload management became a major talking point as Bumrah featured in only three out of the five matches, whereas Mohammed Siraj played all five Tests.
“Nothing is pre-decided,” Gill said. “We will take a call once the Test match is over and (after assessing) how our fast bowlers feel and how their bodies feel after the match…”
The captain also indicated that the team is moving away from its preference for rank turners in home games and would looking to play on tracks that offer assistance to both batters and bowlers.
“I can’t really speak about what were the conversations before I came (in as captain), but yes, we would be looking to play on wickets that offer (help) to both the batsmen and to the bowlers,” Gill stated.
“But having said that, I think any challenge for any team that comes to India, they know that the challenge is going to be spin and reverse swing. So keeping these challenges in mind, we would be looking to play on wickets that offer both to the batsmen and to the bowlers…”
With overcast conditions and rain threat on the cards, Shubman Gill said the team might be tempted to field a third seamer in the series opener. However, with a red soil surface on offer, the team management might eventually prefer three spinners - Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja - and field two seamers in Bumrah and Siraj.
Gill clarified that a decision will be taken on the match day, after assessing the conditions. "You will get to know the combination tomorrow. Given how the weather and conditions are, we are tempted to have a third seaming option but we will take a call tomorrow," he remarked.
The West Indies series Shubman Gill’s first home assignment as the Test captain. The expectations are high from the young Indian team after it managed to pull off a 2-2 draw in England.
“We are looking to play some hard-grinding cricket and then over the past few years, if you see the Test matches in India did not really go up to five days. So, what we are really looking to do is to play some good, hard cricket,” Gill said.
“All the Test matches that we played in England went pretty deep and what the people can expect from us is good, hard-grinding cricket and we wouldn’t be looking for any easy options. We have got the skillset to be able to play on any kind of wicket or any situation and the kind of talent that we have in the team, we can turnaround from any situation, so that’s how we will be looking to play,” he added.