TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: India lost another toss, made short work of the West Indies batting order, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were amongst the wickets but all that was of little significance in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Shubman Gill walked out wearing the captain’s blazer for the first time on home soil and carried the A4 sized sheet – mentioning the Playing XI and reserves – which carried a lot of significance to the toss. The flip didn’t go India’s way again but again, that didn’t really matter. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!All that mattered were the names in the XI. For a side which was on a hunt for an ideal XI during the five Tests in England, the upcoming home season presented an opportunity to persist after regular movements in search of the right balance. Extra bowler? Extra batter? or extra all-rounder? The three questions kept popping up every time India took the field in England but the management chose batting depth over a specialist bowler. It made England a long summer on the bench for Kuldeep Yadav but the think tank was convinced that they needed depth, and trusted the likes of Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy to do the job with the ball.The calls for Kuldeep’s inclusion kept getting louder after every session of “what could have been” but captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir had devised a strategy, and stuck to it. The interest around an India Playing XI returned for the home Tests vs West Indies and it wasn’t for the individuals who could make/miss the cut but for the direction they were looking in for the home season.

The four Tests – two vs West Indies and two vs South Africa – have crucial World Test Championship cycle points up for grabs but more than those additions to the tally, it was about finding a template which works, with minute touches here and there, both home and away, and then sticking to it. Gill has time and again repeated about creating a secure environment and a confused approach only feeds insecurity.So quite naturally, there was a lot of interest when Gill was asked about the playing combination. “We have two seamers – Bumrah and Siraj, three spinners – Jaddu Bhai, Washington and Kuldeep, and allrounder Nitish Reddy,” came his crisp response. The template in England – all-rounders who contribute with both bat and ball – was persisted with and the minute change here was the extra seamer making way for Kuldeep because of the home conditions. There would have been the temptation to play the extra quick on the greenish surface but refreshingly, there was no confusion, no complication. Straight message that the days of playing five specialist bowlers and backing your top five to do bulk of the scoring are behind us and a reminder that Gill’s XI will continue to enjoy depth, and have six bowling options. Even if they are four specialists and two all-rounders, it’s something which they were not comfortable doing away with, and look set to give a fair run at home.There are no doubts about the superiority India are going to enjoy over West Indies in Ahmedabad and Delhi, but again, it was never about the results, runs, wickets or who steals the spotlight on a day, but how Gill and Gambhir were going to shape the Test XI.