It has been more than twelve months since Ajinkya Rahane last featured in a Test match. Virat Kohli and India may have adapted to his absence with their batting, but they likely feel his absence strongly when they enter the arena.
During the Nagpur Test last week, the Indian spin bowlers may have thought about bringing in Rahane as an expert slip-catcher as a substitute. Virat Kohli was present at slip each time, sparing Steven Smith and Peter Handscomb on the first day, off Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja respectively, and David Warner on the third day, off R Ashwin.
The first two opportunities aligned with Mark Waugh’s appearances on television as a commentator, one of the most talented and graceful fielders to ever play the sport.
Throughout the first day, Waugh had many pointers for Kohli to consider, such as keeping his stance lower on pitches with the low bounce like Nagpur, being quicker to the ball by having his feet closer together and expecting the ball to come to him. Waugh also suggested that Kohli should imagine he is actually batting while standing in the first slip when the spinners are bowling.
Warner dropped a fairly easy chance on the third day, but it happens to everyone, even the most experienced cricketers. In the same vein, Kohli had made some costly mistakes in the previous Test against Bangladesh, missing three chances at slip off the spinners. These mistakes allowed Das to score 73 and set India a tough task of chasing 145. They managed to do it, but only after a major collapse when they were 74/7.
Altogether, during India’s last seven missed opportunities to catch spinners in Tests, Kohli has been involved in five clear-cut chances and two further ones that either flew between the wicketkeeper and slip or were deflected off the keeper. Taking these two half-chances into account, Kohli has missed seven catches off-spinners at slip and only taken three since Rahane’s last Test match.
India is hoping to identify the ideal spinner for their team soon. It is considered one of the most difficult challenges in Test cricket to compete against spinners in their native conditions, and having a world-class spinner would make it even more difficult.