India's perennial problem in Test cricket in the last decade-and-half has been the opening slot. There hasn't been a single opening pair to whom we could sing some notes of praise.
If Virender Sehwag boosted the batting with his explosive knocks at the start of the order for a few years, he had no stable partner at the other end. And now that Wasim Jaffer has been a permanent inclusion in the side as an opener, we have failed to find a decent partner for him.
But even Jaffer needs some consistency, especially on foreign tracks, to convince his doubters.
If we consider the recent past, that is the last 10 Tests, there have been 19 innings in all, out of which we have seen three century partnerships and two half-century partnerships.
Jaffer has played in all the 19 innings, having scored 807 runs at an average of 42.47, with three centuries and as many half-centuries. Ideally, what India is looking for is a batsman who can produce similar statistics at the other end, so there can be more consistency at the top.
You can't always have the number three batsmen walking early to face the new ball. It has been noticed that whenever both the openers clicked, the team has gone on to post big scores.
After the loss in the Test series in South Africa last year, where the openers failed miserably, this was a good chance to breed some new talent against Bangladesh. And with the England tour next on the agenda, it was important that a settled pair, good enough to tackle the pacers on seaming wickets, was found.
Instead, the selectors once again decided to try the make-shift formula and Dinesh Karthik was assigned the job of opening the batting. He did a good job in South Africa with the lone chance he got in the top order, scoring a fine 63. But you can't expect much from him when we play in England.
A look at the opening combinations and the contributions made by them in the last 10 Test matches reveal that we need to find a few good openers.
It is no surprise that Sehwag does not figure in the Test squad, simply because he has not been good enough recently.
Going back to March last year, when India played a Test series against England, the opening partnerships were a disaster.
The highest Jaffer and Sehwag put together in that series was 39 in the second innings of the second Test in Nagpur. So much was Sehwag flopping at the top that in the second innings of the third Test, Irfan Pathan was sent to open, but he also failed.
A look at the opening partnerships in the series against England:
1st Test (Nagpur):
First innings - 11 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer); Second innings - 1 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
2nd Test (Mohali):
First innings - 18 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 39 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
3rd Test (Mumbai):
First innings - 9 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 6 for 1 (Pathan/Jaffer)
In the next series, we came up against the West Indies pace battery on pitches that were a tad similar to the subcontinent. Sehwag and Jaffer achieved moderate success there, with Jaffer even scoring a double century.
But when it mattered in the fourth Test, both the openers failed, though India managed to win the series 1-0, their first series win in the Caribbean in 35 years.
Jaffer was finally beginning to provide some solidity at the start and even scored a double century in the first Test. Sehwag scored a century and a half-century in seven innings and, as a pair, one felt they could have done more, considering the flat tracks.
A look at the opening partnerships in the series against West Indies:
1st Test (Antigua):
First innings - 10 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 72 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
2nd Test (St Lucia):
First innings - 159 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - Did not bat.
3rd Test (St Kitts):
First innings - 61 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 109 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
4th Test (Jamaica):
First innings - 1 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 1 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
Finally, in South Africa, our true colours were revealed. The openers never clicked, and in almost every innings we had a wicket falling quite early.
It was only in the first innings of the third Test that we had a decent contribution by the opening pair, when Dinesh Karthik (63) and Wasim Jaffer put on 153 runs in Cape Town.
But, bizarrely, Sehwag was again sent to open in the second innings and he duly obliged the bowlers after scoring just 4.
A look at the opening partnerships in the series against South Africa:
1st Test (Johannesburg):
First innings - 14 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 20 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
2nd Test (Durban):
First innings - 5 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer), Second innings - 14 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
3rd Test (Cape Town):
First innings - 153 for 1 (Karthik/Jaffer), Second innings - 4 for 1 (Sehwag/Jaffer).
Now India's major concern before landing in England would be the opening slot.
Australia's success over the years has largely been due to the solid platform laid at the top by their openers, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
If India wants to do well in Test cricket, they will need to find a good opening pair. It is not just one batsman, but both need to fire as a combo if India wants to do well on foreign shores.
Karthik may well be the answer for India as an opener, but do we have a back-up in case he fails in England? It is a question that needs to be answered; that could throw insights on how serious the BCCI is with regard to future of Indian cricket.
