India must use Pant’s aggression

India have had the ideal buildup to their tour of Australia with two Tests against Bangladesh then a more demanding three game series with New ZealandApart from winning both series Indiarsquos priority will be to get as many players as possible into form without suffering major injuries However the most pressing matters are to achieve those aims with Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh PantPantrsquos ability to bounce back onto the Test scene is quite remarkable given his horrific car accident Pant is a crucial wicketkeeperbatsman in the Indian lineup and hersquod give the team a major boost if hersquos at the peak of his powers for the Australian tourAs an inform batsman Pant is vital which he displayed on the 202021 Australian tour with crucial innings in both the Sydney Cricket Ground and Gabba Tests His ability to score quickly utilising his innovative aggression is an important part of Indiarsquos strategyHis wicketkeeping is also vitalmdashif Pant can perform at his best hersquos the ideal lsquokeeper for Australian conditions If hersquos able to continue with his agile performance standing back that is what is required in Australia You need a lsquokeeper who capably covers a lot of territory to both sides of the wicket Any lsquokeeper who fulfils those requirements not only improves the teamrsquos fielding but also allows the slip fielders to spread wider to cover extra territoryHowever his lsquokeeping standing up to the stumps drastically improved before his serious injury following an ultimatum from coach Ravi Shastri The fact that Pant progressed from being a dubious lsquokeeper against spinners to a very good gloveman standing up to the stumps admirably displayed his willingness to work hardPantrsquos improvement sums up the thoughts of that excellent Australian gloveman Rod Marsh ldquoIf yoursquore the incumbentrdquo he said ldquoand you donrsquot improve then yoursquore not thinking correctlyrdquoMarsh rightly concluded that if you were lsquokeeping and practising most days of the week then you should become a better lsquokeeperWhile the batting needs to be at its best the other crucial factor will be the Indian pace bowling The presence of a lsquokeeperbatsman in the middleorder and allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin give India the luxury of selecting five bowlers for each TestThat makes the choice of fast bowlers paramount The good form and fitness of both Bumrah and Mohammed Sirajmdashthe two most successful pace bowlers on the last Australian tourmdashis essential Of those two Bumrah is the attack leaderA critical part of Indiarsquos buildup to the Australian tour will be ensuring Bumrah is in form but remains fit to play the bulk of the five Tests The difficulty of balancing this task was summed up perfectly by Australian pace hero Dennis Lillee on the 1972 tour of the UK At the start of the long tour I suggested we might keep Lillee in cotton wool He told me in very strong terms ldquoLike a batsman I need to be in form When I take a fivewicket haul you can talk about putting me in cotton woolrdquoIt was a lesson I learned from the bighearted fast bowler and never forgot It would be ideal if the mercurial Mohammed Shami is fit for Australia but the presence of a good leftarm paceman would also improve Indiarsquos variety in attackThe spin bowling is in good hands with Jadeja and Ashwin Nevertheless I wouldnrsquot discount the importance of Kuldeep Yadav on some Australian surfacesOf the young batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal looks very talented but he needs to show good form in Australia Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should act as guiding lights for the younger batsmen on tour The batting needs to be good in Australia as India showed with their series wins on the last two visits Batting aside it will help Indiarsquos chances enormously if both Pant and Bumrah are performing at their best in AustraliaFormer Australia captain Ian Chappell is one of the leading voices in world cricketClayton Murzellorsquos Pavilion End column will be back next weekThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper