Rohit Sharma is assured of one of the two opening slots. After the success of the Australian Test series, young Shubman Gill, who made his Test debut on the recent tour and scored 259 runs in 6 innings at an average of almost 52 seems to be the frontrunner to partner Rohit Sharma who averages above 85 at home.
The players in the current Indian squad for the first two Tests who can play as openers are Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal and possibly KL Rahul, who got himself injured and didn’t play a single Test.
Rohit Sharma Should Certainly Play And Shubman Gill Should Open With Him Since He’s Exciting And Young While Mohammed Siraj Should Play : Monty Panesar
Shubman Gill displayed a maturity far beyond his age (21) and was neither overawed nor daunted by the prospect of playing some of the best bowlers like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in world cricket in their own backyard. Shubman Gill in fact was one of the big finds of the recently concluded Australian tour for Team India, along with pacer Mohammed Siraj.
Former England spinner Monty Panesar echoed the same sentiment in an interview with TimesofIndia.com, mentioning that Shubman Gill should be the first-choice opener alongside the experienced Rohit Sharma in the home series against England. Rohit Sharma averages 88.33 at home and 68.5 as an opener.
“Rohit Sharma should hundred percent play. His record is great and he is a solid opener. And when he gets going, he is a great player to watch. He’s worked hard on his fitness, he looks fitter. He’s just coming off of a high of a series. He would want to prove a point in India that he’s still a great Test cricketer,” Panesar told Timesofindia.com in an exclusive interview.
“I will go with Gill. Gill should open with Rohit Sharma. Because he’s young. He’s exciting. And it just depends on who’s a better player on red soil. That’s my opinion. Whether India should go for Gill or Agarwal, that’s something Ravi Shastri and the team can decide. But India look like a strong team,” he said.
Apart from Shubman Gill, Monty Panesar also feels Mohammed Siraj, who played a vital role in India’s Border-Gavaskar series triumph, should be included in the opening Test. The 26-year-old signed off the series as the highest wicket-taker for India, claiming 13 wickets in 3 Tests, including one five-wicket haul.
After an impressive show in the Australian Test series where he picked 13 scalps, it wasn’t a surprise to see Mohammed Siraj’s name in the India squad for the first two Tests. Apart from him, India have the services of Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Burmah and Shardul Thakur in their pace department for the first two Tests. Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who are all injured are not part of the squad.
“Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami both are very similar bowlers. But I think Mohammed Siraj is fit and in form, and should play. It’s a great problem for India. When they sit at the discussion table, they talk about batsman, spinners but never about fast bowlers. The first thing that they should be talking about is – ‘who are we going to play?’ ‘Who are the fast bowlers we are going to play?’ Because there’s so much to choose from,” Panesar further told TimesofIndia.com.
India though may decide to play three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel or Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav as only one among Ishant Sharma or Mohammed Siraj might get the nod to partner Jasprit Bumrah.
Monty Panesar: Prithvi Shaw Needs Guidance From Someone Like Rahul Dravid
Young opener Prithvi Shaw had a terrible time in Australia and was eventually dropped from the playing XI. His technique was exposed in the Adelaide pink-ball Test when he was bowled for a duck in the first innings by Mitchell Starc and scored a paltry 4 in the second innings before being dismissed in similar fashion by Pat Cummins.
Due to his poor form, he failed to make it to the final eleven in the remaining three Tests against Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane) where Shubman Gill was preferred ahead of him. He was also not picked for the first two Tests against England and was left out alongside Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan.
“You may have one or two good series, and there’ll be certain conditions that you may not be that good in. And, then the team looks for some other options. Prithvi Shaw can come in there then. Shaw should work closely with the likes of Rahul Dravid and work out …He (Shaw) should actually just get his game organized because you never know. All it takes is a couple of bad performances by other players or certain conditions, and you again get a chance. If Shaw keeps himself fit and keeps scoring runs, he could be up for a recall,” Panesar signed off.
Monty Panesar feels Prithvi Shaw needs guidance from Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid to fix the chinks in his armour and rediscover his form. He is still very young (21) and has time to reshape his technique and become a better Test batsman, ready to compete at the highest level.