With seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma having retired from Tests, India will enter a new era in the longest format under new captain Shubman Gill.
Senior India batter Cheteshwar Pujara believes that KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal should continue to open the batting for India in the upcoming five-match Test series against England. With seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma having retired from Tests, India will enter a new era in the longest format under new captain Shubman Gill.
The first of the five Tests will begin from June 20 at Headingley in Leeds. India’s top four in terms of their batting lineup is one of the most discussed topics heading into the series.
“The openers who batted in Australia in BGT (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) series–KL Rahul and Yashasvi should continue. Now talking about No. 3, at this stage we don’t know if Shubman will bat there or drop down to No.4,” Cheteshwar Pujara told reporters during an online interaction on Sony Sports Network.
“If Shubman bats at No.4, then someone like Abhimanyu Easwaran or Karun Nair could be a good fit in that position but I would still like to see Shubman batting at No.3,” he added.
The 37-year-old added that the ideal batting position for the returning Karun Nair is No.4. Karun is returning to the India Test squad for the first time in eight years.
Pujara, however, stated that should Shubman bat at No.4, then the toss-up for No.3 could be between Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
“Someone like Karun who has done very well in domestic cricket, I think ideal position for Karun would be No.4. If Shubman bats at No.3, then Karun comes in at No.4. If Shubman bats at No.4, then at No.3 it would be a choice between Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan.”
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Both Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan are yet to make their India debuts in Tests. Both of them, however, have some First-Class cricket experience to their name. While Easwaran has scored 7674 runs from 101 First-Class matches (29 fifties and 27 hundreds), Sai has played 29 matches and scored 1957 runs (Five fifties and seven centuries).
The first Test in Leeds will be followed by Tests at Edgbaston (July 2-6), Lord’s (July 10-14), Old Trafford (July 23-27) and Kennington Oval (July 31-August 4).
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