Australia vs India 2018/19: MSK Prasad Reveals India’s Opening Pair For Boxing Day Test

Dec 25, 2018 at 11:10 AM

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Australia vs India 2018/19: MSK Prasad Reveals India’s Opening Pair For Boxing Day Test

India, on Tuesday, raised quite a few eyebrows by naming just one specialist opener in their playing eleven for the third Test against Australia. As expected, they dropped out-of-form openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul after the openers flopped in the heavy loss in the last game.

In four innings of the ongoing series, they managed only one double-digit stand when they shared 63 runs for the first wicket in the second innings of the Adelaide Test. In fact,  number three batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has had to walk out to bat inside four overs on three of the four occasions due to the openers’ struggles.

Rahul scored 2, 44, 2 and a duck in the four innings while comeback man Vijay scored 11, 18 , 0 and 20. Not surprisingly, India did not get good starts in the first two Tests and paid the price in the form of the heavy defeat in the second Test. The opening stand was decisive in the outcome of the last Test. Australia’s openers Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch added 112 runs in the first innings to lay the platform for Australia’s 300-plus total in a low-scoring contest. Australia went on to crush India by 146 runs to level the series.

Mayank Agarwal will make his debut in Melbourne (Credits: BCCI)

And India did not hesitate in dropping their openers. However, they named just one specialist opener in the team – Mayank Agarwal, who is yet to make his debut in Tests. There were speculations that Parthia Patel would get a game but the management instead added Agarwal and Rohit Sharma in the team. And now chief selector MSK Prasad has dropped a massive hint on India’s opening pair.

Prasad hinted that Vihari is likely to open the innings alongside Agarwal.

“We have called in Mayank Agarwal and he is in good form after that India A series, so naturally he gets into the side. And the way Vihari batted, it convinced everybody that he has got that sound technique to play,” said Prasad.

“Going by current form, we all know that the current openers are not really living up to the expected things. That is the reason why… It’s really unfortunate. I can definitely say that it’s really unfortunate but going not only by form but we also look at the combinations – what Vihari can offer, what Parthiv Patel may not offer. All those things are taken into consideration while picking the XI,” he added.

Hanuma Vihari (Credits: Getty)

The former India wicketkeeper also made it clear that the Vihari’s promotion is not a permanent solution to India’s opening woes.

“It’s fine. Technically we feel that he is well equipped, there were times where Pujara also opened when the team required. The team demands it and definitely, I hope he will come out successful. Definitely, it is not a long-term solution, I can tell you that,” he said.

Meanwhile, a win in Melbourne will see India take an unassailable lead. The visitors will also retain the Border-Gavaskar series after winning the last series 2-1.

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