India weigh up Nair v Pandya debate

There may be two Indian Test debuts on Wednesday. One is the venue - Rajkot. The other could be Hardik Pandya or Karun Nair. Both men spent a lot of time in the nets three days before the series-opener against England.

Pandya, an allrounder, was bowling for the most part. His presence in the squad was a bit of a surprise. It was his first Test call-up and starkly still, he has played only 16 first-class matches over the past three years. His ability to clock 140kph and a mindset made stronger by his time with the India A team under the supervision of Rahul Dravid has given him a leg-up. Most of the shots he played at training, as a pleasant-ish morning gave way into afternoon heat, were drives along the ground.

Karun, though, is the better batsman. He made back-to-back-to-back centuries in his maiden first-class season to help Karnataka win the Ranji Trophy title in 2013-14. He averages more than 52 in first-class cricket, and has started the current season with scores of 74, 54*, 53 and 145.

Now, he was receiving throwdowns from one of Karnataka's greatest cricketers and the current India coach Anil Kumble and when that was done, he faced up to R Ashwin for a little while. Nair was among the last to leave after practice.

The choice, then, may hinge on what type of pitch is provided for the first Test. If it turns early, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will bet on themselves to take care of England's batsmen before they cause too much trouble and India might ponder batting reinforcement to make sure the opposition struggles to return the favour. Nair probably edges ahead in this scenario.

If not - if it is a pitch where a batsman has to be prised out, then having an allrounder like Pandya becomes a huge asset. He can give the main bowlers a break, which may prove vital regardless of conditions underfoot. The heat in Rajkot can be quite sapping and temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s during the Test.

"Whether it is a short glimpse in T20s, or even in the [New Zealand] one-dayers when he bowled in Dharamsala and batted in Delhi, we could see that he is a quality player and that's why we have backed him to get him into the Test squad because we understand the importance of an allrounder, the importance of a fifth bowler," Kumble said of Pandya. "If someone can bowl 140 and give you the option of batting really well lower down the order, that's a great option to have. So we are really looking forward to seeing how Hardik develops.

"Karun is certainly someone we have kept a close eye on and backed him for all the things he has done in domestic cricket. There was a little bit of talk of him not performing for India A in Australia but what we are looking at is consistency and he has done all the hard work and that's why he was a part of the [squad for the Tests against New Zealand] as well and since then he has gone into Ranji Trophy and got more runs, got hundreds, and it's opened an opportunity for Karun."

Kumble said India hadn't decided on their combination yet.

"Everyone is available for selection," he said. "With Hardik being part of the squad, we have more options. This is the first Test in Rajkot, it's a new stadium - we've played one-day and T20 cricket here, but in a Test, we don't know how the wicket is going to be. The looks of it, it looks a good surface. We still have a couple of days, so we'll look at all the combinations."

That Pandya and Nair are in with a chance of getting an India cap is also, in part, due to several injuries. KL Rahul, who began the 13-Test-long Indian season as first-choice opener has hamstring trouble, Shikhar Dhawan broke his thumb in the Kolkata Test against New Zealand, and Rohit Sharma will head to London next week for treatment on his thigh and may well miss the ODIs against England.

"I know exactly what goes through a player's mind when he's injured and watching the game and somebody else is playing," Kumble said. "Of course, all of us want the team to do well and the player who's replaced also to do well. But having said that, it's important to keep everyone in the loop.

"What is most important for a coach to communicate to them is not to look at coming back quickly because that's not going to help that particular individual and also it might let the team down. So it's important that the injured players come back when they feel 100% right."

With respect to that, the team management has asked anyone returning from injury to play a domestic match before an international one. It was for this reason that Bhuvneshwar Kumar - who has regained full fitness after hurting his hamstring at the start of October - wasn't picked for the first two Tests of this series. He can return once he proves himself match-ready.

"That's the kind of protocols we have set," Kumble said. "So if someone's injured, he goes back and plays domestic cricket, if there is domestic competition happening, so that he plays under pressure and then comes in, unless there is an emergency or a case-to-case basis we may change that."

Kumble still sympathised with those forced onto the bench. "It's unfortunate that someone like KL Rahul who has batted brilliantly since the time he has made his international debut in all the three formats is missing out. But we are hoping that he comes back soon. So is Bhuvi. So is Shikhar. Unfortunate that he still hasn't recovered. Big blow for Rohit, unfortunately the timing of his injury wasn't ideal for him. He was really doing well in the Test format."