A day before the first Test against South Africa, Shubman Gill gave followers of Indian cricket a scare when he said the last spot was between a specialist spinner and an allrounder. It was a here-we-go-again moment. Surely they were not debating Kuldeep Yadav's place in the side?
A moment of empathy later, one thought that the statement was perhaps necessitated by the need for a third seamer. That it wasn't actually India craving Axar Patel's batting at No. 9.
When the pitch was revealed on the morning of the Test, it was apparent they didn't need a third quick. So it was indeed the worst fears. Kuldeep's place was under threat even though India had batting till No. 8.
A massive sigh of relief must have been breathed when Gill reported at the toss that they had gone from Kuldeep or a spin-bowling allrounder to Kuldeep and a spin-bowling allrounder. India were entering the bold new era of trying Washington Sundar as a top-order batter to accommodate a fourth spinner, Axar, in the XI, with Ravindra Jadeja in there as always.
The player who missed out is a bit of an experiment himself. B Sai Sudharsan is the first specialist batter since WV Raman in the late 1980s to play Tests for India with a first-class average of under 40. He debuted in England, was left out after one Test, but had played five of the seven Tests since his debut. His average of 30.33 is the lowest among the specialist batters played by India in this period.
We can reasonably eliminate an injury because India didn't replace Sai Sudharsan with another specialist batter, in this case Devdutt Padikkal. That they replaced him with an allrounder is a sign that India are up to an experiment that is not quite outlandish. Experts have suggested in the past that Washington is good enough to bat higher in the order.
India have decided it is time to pull the trigger on that experiment because these are the conditions when India have players who can cover up if it fails. Axar, who averages 35.88 with the bat, is a formidable No. 8. If it works out, though, the upside is huge. If Washington can develop into a batter good enough to bat in the top order, the flexibility it will give India is huge.
Sai Sudharsan, who scored 87 in his last innings, might feel a bit hard done by after having been blooded at No. 3 in England, but this is the reality of playing cricket for India. Especially in India. There is just too much talent to keep out of the XI.