India captain Rohit Sharma is all set to miss the first Test of the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia. Rohit and his wife Ritika Sajdeh became parents again, this time to a baby boy, on Friday and the captain has decided to stay back in India to be with his family. Jasprit Bumrah is all set to lead the team in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series opener.
India are now left in a conundrum as they need to re-shuffle their batting order in Rohit’s absence. The situation has been exacerbated due to the injury to Shubman Gill, leaving a gaping hole in the Indian batting lineup.
India flew to Australia with a jumbo 18-man squad, knowing fully well that Rohit Sharma might not be available for the series opener. The India captain explained in advance that he might miss the series opener. India also had the luxury of asking players who were part of an India A team that played in Australia to stay back.
Despite the options, India are in a spot of bother as they would want to ensure the right combination at the top of the batting order for the series opener, which will set the tone for the rest of the battle.
With just four days remaining in the first Test in Perth, let’s have a look at India’s possible options to bat in the top order: While Yashasvi Jaiswal is certain to open the batting, here are five batters who could bat in the top three spots.
1. KL Rahul
The star batter has been seen as the likely replacement for the India skipper at the top of the order having previously opened in Australia. Rahul has got the backing of the team management despite his low scores in the unofficial Test against Australia A. Given his vast experience of opening the innings, Rahul seems to be the front runner for the opening spot in Rohit’s absence. Rahul averages 32 as an opener away from India and has scored six hundreds.
2 Abhimanyu Easwaran
Easwaran earned his place behind some stellar performances in domestic cricket. The 29-year-old scored four consecutive centuries in as many games in ongoing domestic season but failed to impress in the two matches against Australia A scoring 36 runs across four innings. Despite his poor outings, Easwaran has made strong statements with his performances in domestic cricket and could well be drafted in as an opener or at the number 3 spot.
3. Dhruv Jurel
The wicketkeeper batter proved his worth as a batter against Australia A in Melbourne being India’s top scorer in both innings of the second unofficial Test. Jurel registered scores of 80 and 68 and was the lone warrior for his team in both the innings. With his gritty performance, the 23-year-old has pushed the case for his selection in the playing XI and could well be drafted at number 3 for the Perth Test in Gill’s absence.
4. Virat Kohli
The star batter hasn’t been in the best of forms heading into the series having scored just 93 runs in the recent series against New Zealand. The former India captain has scored just one half century in the ongoing year and desperately need to get amongst the runs in the upcoming series. With Gill injured, Kohli might be trusted to do the job at number three given his vast experience of batting in Australia.
5. Washington Sundar
With team India’s batting looking unsettled, the team management also have the option of promoting the all-rounder Washington Sundar at the opening spot. The southpaw showed great promise on his debut in Australia in 2021 as he scored scoring a crucial 62 in the first innings at the Gabba, Brisbane. With the batting looking unsettled, the management could spring up a surprise and hand over the responsibility of opening to Sundar which could also help them elongate their batting.
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