A lot to ponder before the Boxing Day Test in South Africa

With Mayank, Gill and Shreyas proving themselves, it remains to be seen whether India decides to move on from either Rahane or Pujara, if not both

New Zealand’s omission of Mitchell Santner and Neil Wagner was no doubt baffling, but when it came to India, the last fortnight proved to be a mixture of comebacks and question marks with an eye on the future.

The fact that the list of memorable comebacks was much longer than expected underlined India’s success in Rahul Dravid’s maiden assignment as the head coach for a Test series.

Days before the start of the opener in Kanpur, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill would not have thought about opening the innings in both the Tests and Shreyas Iyer would have been far from being assured of a much-awaited Test cap.