It is often said that one person’s loss is another person’s gain. This adage is absolutely true for the current Indian side touring Sri Lanka. During the course of the second test match, India had to deal with a couple of injury blows as keeper Wriddhiman Saha and opener M. Vijay were ruled out of the remaining tour. The two are set to be replaced by Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper Naman Ojha and Karnataka batsman Karun Nair respectively.
With Vijay missing out, and Dhawan already out of the tour after the very first test, it will be Cheteshwar Pujara who will open the innings for India in the 3rd test. Pujara is set to open along with KL Rahul, who was named the Man of the Match in the 2nd test.
In the post match press conference, India’s skipper Virat Kohli said that Pujara would finally get an opportunity as he would open the innings. “Looking at these conditions the reason behind getting Nair is we can have Pujara opening. He’s done it before in these conditions. The idea is to have Pujara open with Rahul since it’s only one Test. He’s done it in the past and I’m confident he can do it in the next Test,” Virat Kohli said.
Kohli also went on to praise Pujara’s sportsmanship and Ajinkya Rahane’s flexibility as a batsman. “When there is the demand for Pujara to open in the next Test, he’s happy to do it. I firmly believe that we need to play the best eleven to win. Chopping and changing, I don’t mind so much. Someone like Pujara will understand if he has to open for just one Test and then maybe sit out for the next. As professional sportsmen you understand the reasoning. We’ll try to stick to the same batting order for the next match. We know that Rahane can bat at number three, five or six. Rohit is capable of batting at five. Good to have flexibility,”, Kohli added.
Pujara has opened thrice for India, and has 203 runs to his name along with 2 half centuries.