India’s Test squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies next month has posed another burning question in front of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid as Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Indian team. With no Pujara in the side, which player will bat at the number 3 spot, this would be a major agenda.
In place of the veteran Test legend, youngsters such as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal received their maiden call-ups, and therefore, there could be some changes to the opening order as well as the number 3 position.
Will the batting pair of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma continue to open like they did at the World Test Championship (WTC) final, or will one of Ruturaj or Yashasvi get the nod alongside Rohit, remains to be seen, but Shreevats Goswami feels that the Indian team should go with Jaiswala and Rohit as the two openers and Shubman Gill at number 3.
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The IPL veteran who has played 31 matches between 2008 and 2020 feels that the pairing of Yashasvi and Rohit would be an ‘ideal’ left-right combination. Goswami also added that Gill has the skills to be a success while batting at number 3.
“I feel Yashasvi should open the batting with Rohit and Gill should play at No. 3. Yashasvi opening the batting would give India the ideal right-left combination at the top. Also, they would click well together as they play for the same state side. Gill has the quality and would do well at No. 3,” Goswami told India.com.
Apart from Cheteshwar Pujara, there were some other big names missing from the Indian Test squad for the Caribbean tour, with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami both missing.
It was earlier assumed that Umesh had been dropped while Shami was rested however as per a recent report in TOI, Yadav has suffered a hamstring injury and he is currently recovering at NCA, Bengaluru.
Furthermore, Pujara hasn’t been forced out of the side, and he may well return to the team if he can impress the selectors, similar to what Ajinkya Rahane did, as he was promoted to vice-captain following a stellar return at the WTC final.
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