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Can Rohit Sharma be the answer to opening woes?

After recent poor performances by KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, former players back India’s limited-overs vice-captain for the top batting position in Test matches

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India’s search for two reliable Test openers continues, followed the 2-0 series win over West Indies in the Caribbean recently. Prithvi Shaw’s absence on account of a doping violation saw KL Rahul retained in India’s Test squad, but he averaged 25.25 in four innings with a best score of 44. Rahul’s opening partner Mayank Agarwal fared poorly too, with an average of 20 from as many innings and one fifty.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes that Rohit Sharma can translate his strong white-ball form into Test cricket, if given the chance as opener in place of the struggling Rahul. Gautam Gambhir, India’s third most successful Test opener, feels that Rohit will have to wait for his chances in Tests. 

Anil Kumble, India’s greatest match-winner with the ball in Tests, is wary of pushing Rohit into the opener’s role in red-ball cricket. On the sidelines, the likes of domestic openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal are knocking on the selectors’ doors for a chance in Tests. So come India’s next Test series, which starts October 2 against South Africa at home, who will the chosen openers be?

DID YOU KNOW?

  • In the last two years, only twice in 36 innings have the Indian openers posted century partnerships 
     
  • It has been 10 innings since India openers have scored 50-plus partnership. The last came in 2018 when KL Rahul and Murali Vijay put on 63 against Australia in Adelaide

Rahul’s problems in the West Indies were a continuation of his red-ball slump from 2018. Scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6 mean that of Rahul’s 60 innings in Test cricket, 21 have been between 10 and 49. “Rahul has flattered to deceive and that creates an opening at the top,” Ganguly said last week.

“I had suggested earlier about trying Rohit as an opener in Test cricket and I still believe that he needs to be given an opportunity because he is too good a player to be left out in the cold. After a fantastic World Cup, I believe he will be itching to grab the opportunity to open in Tests.”

Rahul and Agarwal’s problems in the West Indies highlighted a trend of Test openers struggling when the conditions are tough and the new-ball bowlers are accurate. And with Rahul, it appears that he has not learned from the mistakes made last year in England and Australia. In five Tests in England, Rahul was bowled five times. 


KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal

The other five dismissals were lbw thrice, caught in the cordon twice. The failures of Rahul and Agarwal in the West Indies mirrored that of some openers during the ongoing Ashes series. Speaking during the fourth Ashes Test, former England captain Mike Atherton analysed why ball is dominating bat. “The battle for an opening batsman in Test cricket is around about the top of off stump and the best bowlers, like Josh Hazlewood, will land it there more often than the less-good ones. The best opening batsman are the ones who make the best decisions about what to play, leave and attack in that very narrow area,” Atherton said. 

Another former England Test skipper, Nasser Hussain, pointed at the influence of white-ball cricket. “When I was brought up you were told to play with soft hands and let the ball come to you. That is where the game has been infiltrated by white-ball cricket. High back-lifts, hard hands going at the ball, people being castled a lot. Playing late and underneath your eyes seems to have gone,” he said. 

Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting recently commented on how technology has allowed bowlers to work out where batsmen have weaknesses. 

“There is a lot more analysis – where is this one little chink in this guy’s armour that we can expose. You cannot survive if you have weaknesses, you need the courage and want to go and change things innings to innings or mid-series,” said Ponting. 

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones had identified a problem with techniques of top-order Test batsman. “I think it has to do with the falling standard of Test cricket, and the agronomy of pitches around the world, which are dropping, but I dare say that batsmanship is not what it used to be,” Jones had said. 

Sanjay Manjrekar, Former Indian batsman who turned TV analyst, agreed with Jones that batsmen today are happier slotting down to avoid facing the new ball. “The good ones want to bat down the order. (Joe) Root wants to bat four. Mushfiqur (Rahim) wants to bat four, six. Dump the gloves, bat at three, I say. The tendency is to be in the comfort zone and bat down the order,” he said. 

Added former India Test opener Aakash Chopra: “I think it is starting with poor opening combos across the globe…the No. 3 is getting exposed too quickly and therefore, teams are finding ways to shield their best batsman by pushing him at No. 4. It is one of the problems.” 

Across three Test matches against South Africa at venues such as Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi, India’s openers will face the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje. South Africa have a very good pace attack and it remains to seen if similar pressure is put on India’s top-order as West Indies’ pacers did recently. 

With Shaw banned until November, Agarwal has done enough to retain his place for three Tests against South Africa but will need to produce some strong scores to hold on. On form, Rahul has a lot to do show he deserves further chances opening in Tests. Rohit has white-ball success to his name, but opening in Tests against the red ball – even in docile Indian conditions – is a different ballgame. 

N ZONE

76 – No of runs India openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal accumulated together at an average of 19.00 in the four innings in the West Indies recently 

Zee Media Newsroom

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